Golden Ticket

I apologize in advance for the title of this review. But hey I'm here...Yes it's been quite some time, admittedly longer than my usual 'nothing good is out' hiatuses... But that's the fact, nothings out that I really want to review. I know that's a cop out and if I wanted to I could find something...But as this Review Site is intended to motivate me to write, I would like to do movies I'd enjoy actually writing about. But no worries, new releases will start in September and only grow up to December. Well now that I've ranted away for a full paragraph lets move on to...

Two Tickets to Paradise

Two Tickets to Paradise I believe ran the Indie Circuit film festivals, I don't think it ever had an official release, making its only numbers DVD sales and no Box Office. I say this simply because I cannot find any info on it's release... anywhere.

Two Tickets to Paradise, formerly named Dirt Nap, is about three nearly-40 year old men who's lives did not turn out as planned. Down on their luck they take a road trip down to Florida when one of the men wins two tickets to the College Football World Championship... Along the way they contemplate their lives...

I have to admit... I only had an interest in watching this movie because John C. McGinley was in it. I find him awesome in any form and wish he would do more work.

But what I found there, was a brilliantly done Black Comedy about three men finding themselves in their mid-life and realizing they aren't where they were supposed to be and instead of facing their problems and fixing their lives they run off on a road trip, and contemplate suicide.

Each scene blends the dry wit and dark humor with each characters story and how they promptly don't deal with it. It's a unique and well made movie and worth a watch from anyone who's a fan of the less silly side of comedy.

Vote

So here we are, man it feels like I'm being lazy, but really the new releases are just pitiful. I guess I could have picked up Prom Night, but I have such apathy for that movie...I decided to pick up, though, a movie that I actually have some care for...

Recount

Recount, being a made for TV movie, specifically HBO, has no numbers.

Recount is the tale of the 2000 Presidential Election and the issues regarding Florida and the recount. It follows the Democratic and RTepublican Campaign parties as they both fight and try to get their candidate the state and Presidency.

I'm gonna try to do this review without going political... I'm a movie reviewer not a Political Pundit. That being said this movie swings so very far to the left. It shows the movie very firmly from the democratic point of view and displays the republicans as stubborn dirty bullies who block every attempt of the Democrats with shady methods and underhanded tactics. Conversely the Democrats come out as squeaky clean warriors for truth who simply want everything done right, no matter the turn out.

Though one must also realize that despite this obviously bias portrayal the events in the movie happened, albeit dramatized, and watching this movie really gives a feeling of just bewilderment. The ridiculousness of the situation, that there was so much chaos from this one state... It gives a scale to what was going on that the news eight years ago just couldn't grasp.

Obviously if you swing right conservative republican you most likely will despise this movie, if you're liberal lefty democrat you may point to it and call out a rally cry for injustice... Either or, this is a powerful movie, and gives a bit of humanity to the ludicrous events of the 2000 Presidential Election.

Paradise

Second on the list, here we go.

Nim's Island

Nim's Island managed to pull in $47,963,887 nationally and cashed in at a grand total of $77,535,510 world wide, and deserved every penny.

Nim's Island is about a girl who lives alone with her father, a marine biologist, on an island. But when her father does not return from one of his studies, and tourists begin to invade the island Nim turns to her favorite adventure book author to help. Little does she know who the authro truley is.

When I saw this movie come in I decided to pass over it as a 'kid's movie'... But then decided to pick it up, and see it simply because there was nothing else. Boy was I truley suprised.

Sure it is a kids movie, but an enjoyabe one. Incredibly entertaining on all fronts. I found myself laughing out loud at all of the humor in it, and simply enjoying the entire film. The acting is great and the world portrayed is just truley imaginitive.

I suggest it to anyone, yes anyone. Be sure to look for it on the shelf.

Kill 'em All!

Little late in the week sure but I have a few reviews I wanna get through. So lets start of with

Starship Troopers 3:
Marauder

Starship Troopers 3 is a direct to DVD release and therefore has no Box Office numbers. Though I wouldn't imagine them very high if they did.

Starship Troopers 3 takes place eight years after the events of the first film and bring us back to John Ricco, who must save an important man in the Federation from yet another new bug... But this time, he has some new equipment.

I would like to say I have never read Starship Troopers the book, but absolutely adore the original movie. The mix of action fluff, Science Fiction, and tongue in cheek social parody was all just brilliant. I am suprised, though, that such a simple formula cannot be captured again in any sequel.

The movie just seems to fail at capturing what was great about the original movie... The propoganda intels seem less social parody and more plot exposition, each character is rather bland and flat most of which seem to try and be sympathetic at the same time as being a moralless ass. The only character that really has any sort of character is John Ricco and thats only because the character was made ten years ago.

Ricco, by the way, really feels underused in this... He does great in the first scenes of the movie, then is held back to simply stand around for the rest of the movie until the end.

The problem with the Starship Troopers movies is the failure to grasp the scale of war... In this and the second one it was a handful of people facing off against an army of bugs (or themselves)... The first movie showed hundreds of people being mauled by bugs, it really gave it the perspective of a galactic conflict.

The movies religious aspects, while I assume they were in attempt to be parody, simply grained on my nerves... We see throughout the film the blind faith as the characters cling to the crazy Sky Marshal, and yet at the end the surviving woman still 'gets fath'.

The movie is simply not worth it. If you're a die hard Starship Trooper fan it'll simply let you down, if you're not a fan it won't entertain you much at all. Pass it by when you see it on the shelf.