Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Rhapsody of Fire


This is not really a review of anything, but more like a recommendation.  Actually, not a recommendation, but a requirement for your music library and to visit this blog.  Rhapsody of Fire (formerly known as Rhapsody) is a completely awesome symphonic metal band from Italy that makes listening music an adventure.  If you're into all things metal, classical, and adventure then any given song by Rhapsody of Fire will definitely become your new battle music.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Reminder: New Animation Domination, Dexter, and Metalocalypse tonight

Tonight is what may be this year's finest night in television programming in my opinion.  Dexter, Metalocalypse, The Simpsons, The Cleveland Show, and Family Guy are having their season premiers.  We can all go on about how The Simpsons and Family Guy are not as good as they were many years ago, but they are still worth a watch.  The Cleveland is also another good show and not bad for a spin-off.  And don't forget that American Dad premiers next week.  So much animation goodness on Fox.

Now that I got the Fox cartoons out of the way, let's talk about Dexter.  Dexter is entering it's fifth season and features the conflicted serial killer being a single dad, due to the events of last season.  I know Dexter may have been the only person who could've stopped the Trinity Killer, but he got married and had kids, he should've stopped his killing there.  The paradox of that would be that if he did that, then there would be  no point in the show, but the fact that he did not stop killing kind of makes him an asshole.  That's just my only discrepancy, I really love this show and I look forward to seeing what comes next for Dexter.\



Up next is the most brutal show about the world's biggest Death Metal band, Metalocalypse.  It's not a season premier, it's a mid-season premier.  All I expect is the same dark humor and kick-ass metal music that makes this cartoon on Adult Swim so cool.  I'm also expecting a lot of "hamburger time" on tonight's episode.  DIE FOR DETHKLOK.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Clash of the Titans


First off, the original Clash of the Titans is a favorite of mine.  It's dated, but it still makes me feel as if I have 1980's standards and still impressed by its visuals.  Aside from that, it also told the story of Perseus and his quest to defeat the Kraken.  Each character is presented as if they are important and that makes a good story.  Is it starting to show its age?  Yeah, kind of.  Sure, some aspects of it are cheesy and hoaky, but sometimes, I just love that stuff.  Now on to the remake.

The remake is not as good as the original, of course, but it is overall just average.  Characters: pretty average.  Character development: not really fleshed out.  Special effects: pretty standard, but still overall good.  Story: borderline meh/okay.

The story of the original Clash of the Titans started from the birth of Perseus to Perseus being triumphant.  The remake had flashbacks, which made the story kind of choppy.  There are also some things behind the antagonist's motivations, which push the story forward, that can be perplexing.  Was the godlike weapon that only works for Perseus supposed to make him successful or failure?  That's one of the things that makes me wonder what side the God's are on.  I suppose it's just a game the God's are playing with one another, but it just makes me wonder what there is to gain.

Sam Worthington always speaks in a low and raspy tone while everyone else spoke with deep and mighty voices.  It somehow makes him seem a bit underplayed as compared to everyone else since everyone speaks high and mighty while Perseus sounds like the silent type.  There is also less reason to care about Princess Andromeda.  Turns out she isn't the most important lady in the movie and I really didn't care whether the Kraken could take her or not.  The real leading actress was Io, who fills the role of the wise man from the original.  She could have been left out, but she is more important to Perseus, being that they are both in way godlike.  Liam Neeson makes a good Zeus, but his motivations are unclear as to whether or not he wants Perseus to win or lose.

What I could say about the remake that it holds over the original are the antagonists, but by slightly.  Hades is the mastermind, but I still don't know if he just wants to punish the world of man by releasing the Kraken or if he has a plan to take over Mt. Olympus.  Is it both?  I actually liked Medusa in this one, because she moves fast and her arrows come out of nowhere.  It's kind of a detractor from her menacing side that she kind of looks hot, but that's when she isn't giving her stare.  The blind oracle sisters are not either better or worse than the originals, but they still do their part anyway.  Kalibos even more clear reasons as to why he wants to kill Perseus and he is still the evil and ugly monster we make him out to be.  The Kraken looks like a Rancor, but it's the Kraken nonetheless.  It comes from the ocean and wreaks havoc.

The remake also has some nice fight scenes and special effects.  Some stuff is kind of hard to make out, especially when the harpies attack because it happens so fast.  In the very least, this does pass as an epic.  Again I say in the very least when meeting requirements for an epic.

The Clash of the Titans remake is at best worth a watch or a went if you want something that you're in the mood to watch just because you like action/adventure/Greek-ish type movies.  It's just overall an average sort of movie.  You're neither too impressed or disappointing, but there is no reason to hate on it too much.  It's a half and half sort of movie.

Score: 6/10

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

It's Pat


Lately, I've been writing about stuff I like.  Now I'm going to review something I hate, because it is really stupid.  That movie would be It's Pat, a movie based on Saturday Night Live sketches about a person who no one could tell if it is a man or a woman.  Those sketches were funny, just seeing how hard people would try to figure out if its (I'm using "it" as a pronoun, keep in mind) and Pat being oblivious to any suspicion and staying its optimistic self.  While some of that spirit is in It's Pat, the movie is still dumb and unfunny.

Julia Sweeney, who played Pat on SNL, plays Pat in It's Pat and Dave Foley, from The Kids in the Hall, plays another androgynous person (or male/female thing), Chris.  While a woman is playing Pat and a man is playing Chris, there is still no way I would refer to the characters as he or she.  I remember a Pat sketch where Dana Carvey plays a different Chris character, but it was probably a good thing he didn't appear in this movie.  Chris seems to be the smartest character, while Pat is just a real obnoxious dope.  The only thing this movie has going is the questionable androgyny, and even that doesn't carry this movie.

The main premise of It's Pat is that Pat is trying to look for a job, while having a relationship with Chris and it is being stalked by a guy named Kyle who is obsessed with figuring out Pat's gender.  Pat's quest  to find a career just show how stupid and obnoxious Pat can be.  Pat becomes a mail person (not mail man), but it opens everyone's mail.  Pat first seems like someone who is right in its mind and opening people's mail should get Pat thrown in jail, since tampering with other people's mail is a federal offense.  Pat also becomes a sushi chef, which in itself seems completely out of place.  Just to show how Chris is the only person right in its head, Chris is a bartender and has been doing so for 10 years and has a college degree, but Chris likes to bar tend because it likes it.  Any job Pat gets, Pat will instantly screw up, regardless of its difficulty.

Another plot that is in this movie is of this guy named Kyle becoming obsessed with figuring out Pat's gender.  He becomes so obsessed that his wife leaves him and he then becomes Pat (if that's even possible).  He thought he could expose Pat's identity by getting it on national television, but that only leaves America as baffled as he is.  Somewhere along the line, he gets Pat's diary (which leads to maybe the only other remotely clever joke) and even that does not tell him anything.  Figuring out nothing from Pat's diary just raises even more questions.  There is even a scene where everyone looks a Pat's genitals, except Kyle, yet Kyle does not even bother asking anyone what they saw.  I could go on about Kyle and Pat, but it is pretty clear just how much the audience is being teased about Pat's gender.  Okay, one more.  If Kyle is so obsessed with Pat, why doesn't he just sneak into Pat's apartment and stick a video camera in its bathroom?  Pat has to pee sometime.

It's Pat does more of a job showing how even more obnoxious and stupid Pat could possibly be, rather than showing Pat's optimistic spirit.  Out of all the movies based on Saturday Night Live, this one is the worst.  I would choose A Night at the Roxxbury and Superstar over It's Pat any day.  Am I biased against this?  Probably.  Adaptation movies, if they are based on sketches, have higher expectations because we expect the thing's to work in them as they did in their source material, but It's Pat fails at being It's Pat.

Verdict:  Do the legacy of Pat a favor and burn every copy of It's Pat you can find.  This even has a score of 0% on RottenTomatoes.com, but there is no way it will be a so-bad-it's-good cult classic like Manos: The Hands of Fate or Troll 2.  Much like how V's face is never revealed in V for Vendetta (and for good reason), Pat's gender is also never revealed, like in the sketches (also for good reason).  In other word's, It's Pat is just one sketch stretched into a feature film with nothing funny.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

True Blood Season Finale and Venture Bros. Season Premire Reminder

Tonight, one fantastic show will end its season while another fantastic show will premiere it's new (mid)season.  True Blood will have its season finale and may wrap up some plots that I already forgot, since it took a break last week.  Venture Bros. will begin as season 4.5, and all I know is that it'll have Shore Leave and all his glory.

The verdict:  Like I need to recommend any of these shows, go watch them, even if you have to change your cable plan.



Friday, September 10, 2010

The Human Centipede



Hi everybody, it's time for a review of a movie that is really disturbing.  Incase you missed the title and the video above, it's The Human Centipede.  This is a movie that really doesn't have a mainstream distribution, but it becomes so infamous, that you hear about from word-of-mouth (or Daniel Tosh).  If you're looking for something really creepy to watch or just to take pictures of your friend's reactions, then get The Human Centipede.

The premise of The Human Centipede is about a German (I think) surgeon who kidnaps strangers and then conjoins their mouths to their asses in threes.  To him, it must be a scientific achievement by making a Siamese triplet, but how would this be beneficial to the human race?  I'm sure the only good to come out of it would be a reduction in the consumption of food, thus solving world hunger, but it would still be a horrible experience to eat people's shit.  This stuff makes you think.  And if you want to see what a more realistic Siamese triplet looks like, then go read Batman and Robin #2.  If I may go off-topic, I just can't help but think that if this surgeon lived in Rapture City, he'd get away with this.

Going more in depth (no pun ever intended), it's about 2 girls from the United States going on a road trip through Europe, but get sidetracked when they get a flat tire and stumble upon Dr. Kantz house.  Dr. Kantz drugs them and keeps them in his underground laboratory.  Then an Asian guy, who becomes the front of the centipede, joins the mix.  Other than Dr. Kantz, the Asian guy is my other favorite character. Then once all the kidnapping and plotting is dealt with, Dr. Kantz does what the title of this implies.  Which is conjoining the human subjects ass to mouth.

After the experiment becomes a horrible success, this is where stuff really gets even more disturbing and depressing.  He treats the human centipede like a dog, or dogs.  I should also mention that tried this stuff on cows and dogs, and now he's upgraded to human.  That's all I can say about The Human Centipede.  People get kidnapped and conjoined ass to mouth in the name of science.

Verdict:  Go watch it, but you're probably going to be disturbed.  So get your friends over and be disturbed together.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Bad Kids Go To Hell

As a special thank to my new followers, I'm going to recommend and indie graphic novel.  Today's subject is Bad Kids Go To Hell by Matthew Spradlin and Barry Wernick.

Before I review the graphic novel I want to say a few things about reviewing indie comics and how I got this.  Indie comics have little expectations for the reader, and depending on how good it may be, it could exceed all expectations and leaves the reader with a good impression.  It's not like characters from well-known properties who you expect to be in character all the time, and then get a bad impression when they are be out of character.  Bad Kids Go To Hell has the advantage of being mostly original and exceeding expectations.

Now how I got this was a story of its own.  I was walking around the convention center of the San Diego Comic-Con dressed as Cogpool (or Deadpool if he was in Gears of War) when a hot booth babe, known only as Th3 Rogue, pitched it to me.  As charming as she was, I then listened to the creators and decided, what the Hell?  It'll be a good read.  They then autographed my copy and Th3 Rogue kissed and blew on it.  I also asked Th3 Rogue out on a date, but she refused.  So I cut off her arm with my lancer.




I told her I would give her arm back if she gone out with me, but she decided to donate herself to science and got a robotic arm, technically making her a cyborg.  So on to BKGTH.

BKGTH already reminds me of the Breakfast Club, with a bunch of angsty teenagers coming into the library for detention on a Saturday.  There are differences, like the teens go to a prep school, they're wearing their uniforms, and there's a supernatural force haunting the library.  The teens are locked in the library and they must stay alive and not let the supernatural force kill them.  What drives this graphic novel are the characters, whose names I forget because my memory is shotty and I don't have the graphic novel with me, so this is a review from memory.

I'll just name the characters by description.  The black jock with a broken leg.  The mysterious new student.  The nerdy brunette.  The bitchy blond.  The hot goth chick.  The smart Arab guy.  And the a-hole teacher keeping them there.  By the way, is it really necessary for students getting Saturday detention to show up in their uniforms?  It's bad enough they're in detention, now they got to wear their uniforms.  Don't they have other clothes, or do they have multiple sets of the same uniform?  I'm looking at you Goth girl.

The main plot concerns with the students waiting through detention in the library, while the supernatural force is haunting them.  Aside from detention, there are also flashbacks as to how each student received detention.  These are kind of important, because they do concern some of the twists that result from the story.

I'm not really an art critic, so I'll just say that the art passes.  Everything is in proportion and there are no complaints.  Sometimes, I feel as if the text get shorter than it needs to be that my face touches the paper. It's like some of the characters are being played by Ray Palmer.  That's a small gripe that I can get over, but small text is always unnecessary, unless the character's have shrinking powers.

Throughout the story, characters meet tragic ends (I won't say which ones), they freak out, develop, and many twists come about.  It's the kind of stuff M. Night Shyamalan used to do before he got lazy.

The verdict:  BKGTH is an entertaining read for those who have a hankering for some indie books.  I definitely recommend it, and not because a booth babe altered my senses.  You can get BKGTH from their booth at the given convention or buy it from their online store.  I wouldn't know if you can buy it in the book store, since I heard the first print was sold out.

Official site:  http://www.badkidsgotohell.com/
Facebook page:  http://www.facebook.com/badkidsgotohell

Monday, August 30, 2010

Big Money Rustlas (and a mention of Death Racers)

Big Money Rustlas, the prequel to Big Money Hustlas, is pretty much what I expected.  It's almost the same movie as Big Money Hustlas, except it's set in the wild west.  There are some differences, like different characters, subplots, and random cameos, but overall it's the same movie with cowboy hats.

Shaggy 2 Dope plays our hero, Sugar Wolf, as he comes to the town of Mud Bug to confront Big Baby Chips, played by Violent J, and take him down for.  Big Baby Chips is joined by Raw Stank (Jamie Madrox), Dusty Poot (Monoxide), and Hack Benjamin to help Big Baby Chips get his motha-fuckin' monaaaaaaaay.  Already, some of this getting familiar.  That's because mostly has the same plot as Big Money Hustlas, like I've said before.

I'm just keep this one short and recommend to Insane Clown Posse's fans and the so bad it's good crowd.  Actually, I'm not sure this may qualify as bad it's good.  Nevertheless, Shaggy 2 Dope, Violent J, and the interesting cast make it entertaining in some ways, so give it a watch if you dare.

Now for a mention of Insane Clown Posse's other movie, Death Racers.  It's a movie made by Asylum Films, who make crappy knock-off movies of more popular movies and release them in rental stores and Red Boxes to confuse buyers into buying them.  Death Racers is no exception, being a near rip-off of Death Race, which is a much better movie than this.  In Death Race, the name of the competition is called Death Race, seems right.  In Death Racers, the name of the competition is called Death Race.  Way to be original.  Insane Clown Posse is the only good thing about this movie, even providing the soundtrack.  Everything else is just shit and should be ignored, unless you're that juggalo who wants to go the extra mile.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Big Money Hustlas

*Some spoilers may be present, be warned*

In honor of this week's Gathering of the Juggalo's in Illinois (which I'm not going to), here's a review for Big Money Hustlas.  This movie is sort an homage to those 70's pimp/detective blaxploitation films, except all the black people were replaced by Insane Clown Posse and their Juggalo friends.  Since there are no black people (except Dolemite) to make this a blaxploitation film, then it's safe to say that this is one of the only "Juggalosploitation" movie of its kind.  The next one will be sequel (or prequel so to speak?) Big Money Rustlas.

Big Money Hustlas stars, of course, Shaggy 2 Dope as our hero, Detective/Super-pimp Sugar Bear, and Violent J as our main villain, Big Baby Sweets.  Instead of the rapping clown duo bringing joy to the world through violent and spiritual music, they are at odds with one another as Big Baby Sweets tries to make as much money (or "monaaaaay") as possible through crime, while Sugar Bear, a detective from Frisco Bay (it tried to eat my cell phone, it ran away"), tries to take him down.  Both their performances and conflict are fun to watch and make this movie worth the watch.  Big Baby Sweets speaks like a true crime lord asshole and Sugar Bear speaks in rhymes like how any detective in a pimp suit should speak.  It should be noted that Violent J wrote the screenplay, yet he improvised most of lines.  His motivation was quite easy, he wants that monaaaaaaay.  It should also be noted that Shaggy and Violent J always have their signature make-up on the whole time.  It is by no means a bad thing, it's Insane Clown Posse in their own movie and seeing them without their make-up anywhere would be a shame, even if they were interviewed by Bill O'Reilly (which they were).  Also starring in Big Money Hustlas is Harland Williams (comedian and the Kindergarten teacher from "Half Baked") as Harry Cox, the only other good cop and complete pussy who hangs out the donut shop most of the time.  There's also John G. Brennan (voice of Mort Goldman from "Family Guy") as the hard-ass chief who also wants to take down Big Baby Sweets.  Other characters to mention are Rudy Ray Moore reprising his role as Dolemite, Mick Foley as Cactus Sac, The Misfits in a donut shop, and Twiztid as Big Baby Sweets' body guards.

Enough with the characters, on to the movie.  It opens at a church with a preacher swindling people out of their money in name of Lord, while Sugar Bear recalls the events that happened.  Then we cut to the antagonist, Big Baby Sweets, telling someone to pay up or they'll be cut.  He is joined by the guys from Twiztid as his white suburban body guards and the gasmask wearing Hack Benjamin.  The body-guards (whose names I forget) act like any white kid from the suburbs who ended up acting like something other their own race (that's juggalosploitation for you).  Sugar Bear then rolls into town in his pimp car to meet The Chief.  The Chief's real name is never mentioned, he is just The Chief.  The Chief is a hard-ass who is reluctant to have Sugar Bear on the force come in, but angry that Big Baby Sweets is running the city and all his cops, except Harry Cox (Harland Williams), are corrupt.  This looks like a job for Sugar Bear.

So Harry Cox (gotta say the whole thing) takes Sugar Bear to Donut Hut, where for no apparent reason, all of The Misfits are kicking back and eating donuts.  That's what they pretty much do, they serve no other than to be in a donut shop eating donuts, it's just completely random.  Sugar Bear is disappointed that all that Harry Cox and the cops do is eat donuts all day, so he really wants to take a stand.  By the way, the guy serving donuts is wearing a with a donut hanging in the front.  Then Ape Boy (played by Violent J), who is an armed robber dressed as an ape, comes in and starts taking donuts.  Guys in monkey suits always make things interesting.  Baby's Day Out may be a really bad movie, but no one can hate the guy in the monkey suit.  Sugar Bear being Sugar Bear then beats his ass and DDT's him.

Big Baby Sweets comes back into play as he is having a meeting with the other crime lords of the city who all work for him and bring his monaaaaaaaaay.  There's the jewel thief guy who overdresses, the corrupt priest, the big-titty slut queen, and the infomercial guy who manages to plug in one a discount juicer like he's hosting on the home shopping network.  It turns out that his monaaaaaaaay is no good and he ends up dead.  The infomercial guy kind of reminds of the Chopper from the Mazda dealership commercials.  I know most of you don't get that reference, unless you live in the Las Vegas area and flip through the channels in the morning.  Big Baby Sweets then notices that Ape Boy isn't at the meeting because he Sugar Bear dropped him on his so hard, that its impact traveled through time and made him want to commit crimes while dressed as a monkey (not really).  This makes Big Baby Sweets angry, vowing that Sugar Bear will be dealt with because he didn't get his monaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

Meanwhile, Sugar Bear goes to strip club where he develops a deep affection for a stripper named Phat Tittie Kittie.  She really is a whole lot of woman.  Leave it to Insane Clown Posse to teach us that fat women are people too and should get the most love.  After Phat Tittie Kittie gets off stage, Sugar Bear wins her over with pizza (take note of that) and they make love that only a rapper in make-up and a stripper cow with Hostess Snowballs can make.  While that happens, Big Baby Sweets reeks havoc on the time by showing stock footage of buildings falling down.  That Big Baby Sweets is real nasty mothafucker.

Sugar Bear then gets a call about the destruction, so he goes to Big Baby Sweets house, 70's style with the Isaac Hayes like music, to take him down.  Big Baby Sweets and his white boy suburb posse end up being questioned in the most harshest of tones.  Big Baby Sweets tries to keep things cool and not answer to anything, while the whitest kids you know in the suburbs cry like the huge pussies.  The law being the just and legal system it is, Big Baby Sweets gets released.  Once Big Baby Sweets gets out, he comes up with his master plan of how to take out Sugar Bear.  He uses magic to summon deadly mystical ninjas.  The ninjas go where it'll really hurt Sugar Bear, by going after Big Tittie Kitty.  While Sugar Bear is on his way to make more love to Big Tittie Kitty, the magical Mortal Kombat knock-off ninjas lure her out of her den with a trail of hot dogs and slice her.  Sugar Bear finds her dead and then quits.  He leaves the force by throwing his badge in a homeless guys money jar.

Weeks later (I think), Sugar Bear is down and out and hooked on crack.  The Chief comes by to get him back on the case, but that doesn't work for him.  Then Dolemite comes out of his own movie poster to give Sugar Bear some encouragement by telling he's useless cracka and should get in shape to take down Big Baby Sweets.  For some reason, the director comes out and interrupts during that scene.  Dolemite coming out of the poster to help might sound too mystical for a 70's detective homage movie, but ninjas have already been summoned, so all sense of realism doesn't matter at this point.  So Dolemite and Sugar Bear go through a training montage so Sugar Bear can get back to being a detective again.

Once Sugar Bear gets over feeling sorry for himself, he and The Chief meet Dr. Dinglenut.  Dr. Dinglenut has some weapons that will help Sugar Bear as he goes back to take down Big Baby Sweets and his ninjas.  When it comes to mad scientists and their outrageous hair, this guy beats Doc Browns.  Dr. Dinglenut's inventions includes a gun that can track ninjas, a whistle that'll incapacitate Hack Benjamin, and a device that'll take out the two white-boy suburbanites (whose names are Big Stank and Lil' Poot, just looked it up).

The funky Isaac Hayes-like music returns and Sugar Bear is at a warehouse.  And for some reason, Harry Cox has been kidnapped and strapped to a chair.  As the funky music plays, Sugar Bear takes out the ninjas, uses sound to take out the deaf guard, and takes out the suburbia dwellers with their worst fear.  After freeing Harry Cox, Sugar Bear finds himself in a wrestling ring going up against Cactus Sac (Mick Foley).  If you don't watch pro-wrestling (thank God if you don't), but don't know Mick Foley, he is a crazy and hairy hardcore wrestler who has had too many personas for one man to have in one wrestling career.  He really kicks the crap out of Sugar Bear while trying to figure out exactly what persona he is in.  Mick Foley is pretty much doing a parody of himself.  He has Sugar Bear beaten badly, but Sugar Bear manages to get lucky by pulling out a sharp piece of wood and stabs Cactus Sac.

Big Baby Sweets comes out to once again see Sugar Bear face to face and compliment on his victory.  Then out of nowhere, the least likely person to show up shoots Big Baby Sweets every time he opens his monaaaaaaaaaaay lined jacket.  While nothing can come between Big Baby Sweets and his monaaaaaaaaaaaay, same thing with bullets.  Cut to Sugar Bear, The Chief, and Dr. Dinglenut outside of an ambulance, where Sugar Bear wipes the face paint off Big Baby Sweets (blasphemy!!!!!) and we get the big reveal.

Incase you forgot, the movie is basically a flashback that Sugar Bear is having in the church, and the movie goes back to that particular moment.  The preacher is still going on about getting money from the churchgoers, and then we get an awesome shoot-out featuring the whole cast.  As the shoot-out goes on, the credits roll, bloopers are shown, and that's pretty the end.

The verdict on Big Money Hustlas?  A good movie with some entertaining performances, as well as having language that any juggalo can appreciate.  Even the soundtrack is provided by Insane Clown Posse.  Yes, "Fuck the World" is played, but there are no words, so sing the words to yourself.  Non-juggalo's might get a kick out of it, but even Insane Clown Posse probably does not expect anyone other their fans to watch and enjoy this.  Of course, me being me, so bad it's good value comes out of it, which is a factor that just applies to me.  If you're an Insane Clown Posse fan, or course you should check it out, you are a fan right?  If you're not a fan, just give it a try anyway.  Maybe you'll be a juggalo yourself when you're done watching.  Even though being a juggalo requires you to just appreciate the music, there's no problem in going the extra distance.

Monday, August 2, 2010

The House That Drips Blood On Alex (review)

While I was at the San Diego Comic-Con, I had the pleasure of meeting Tommy Wiseau, the talented visionary who created The Room.  I wasn't sure what to expect from him, but it turns out that Tommy Wiseau is one of the coolest people I have ever met.  He is always positive and acts as if he never has any worries.

So on to The House That Drips Blood On Alex (THTDBOA).  I first saw this film at the panel of the title's name (I feel redundant saying the title again), where Tommy was greeted by his many fans (The Room is really popular by the way) and the other actors who starred in THTDBOA.  I should also mention that I'm going to keep this spoiler-free as possible.  THTDBOA is a horror-slash-comedy, which is more horror with unintentional comedy that only Tommy Wiseau's acting could bring  The film starts with Alex, who Tommy plays, recounting the time of when he bought a house from a landlord.  The deal he makes is like he's making a deal with the devil, but he's negotiating a house and his soul isn't involved.  Or is it?

The acting worth mentioning is of Wiseau's, who use the same kind of talent he used in The Room and brings it to this horror-slash-comedy.  He comments on the cliché's that a Devil's Advocate type of film has and is oblivious to the terror around him.  When Tommy Wiseau acts, one can wonder if what he is doing is by mistake or if it's intentional, which makes it all the more funnier.  As you can guess from the title, blood does drip on Alex, but Alex is completely unaware that it's blood.  He even isn't aware that the street his house is on is called Blood Street.  I may have spoiled an element, but just like The Room, this has to be seen to be believed.  The other actors are decent and seem to be the only ones who know exactly what is going on.

Throughout the course of the movie, Alex is tormented by the house with dripping blood and nightmares.  When the house drips blood, Alex never minds and when Alex has a nightmare, he shrivels in his sleep.  Not only do you see him sleep while being tortured, but his nightmares are also shown.  There is no right way to describe what he is dreaming, other than it involves blood.  So after spending some time in his house, he finds out the cause of the blood leak and that is where we go back to where he is recounting his story.

Overall, THTDBOA is more hilarious then it is frightening, but frightening nonetheless.  Whenever Alex spoke a line of dialogue, the audience just laughed.  That does not mean that horror elements exist, there is possible inspiration from The Amittyville Horror with all the dripping blood and nightmares.  Much like The Room (how can I not reference it), this has to be seen to be believed.  It is entertaining and if you felt like The Room sucked too much of your soul, this will have much less of that impact, since it is 10 minutes long.  Come this Halloween, get as many of your friends together and sit around the computer, go on atom.com, and watch The House That Drips Blood On Alex.

Following the showing, there was a Q&A, which was mostly directed at Tommy.  Tommy proved just how cool he was by giving insight into his inspirations (he is his own inspiration), telling everyone to stay positive, The Room going 3-D, on Blu-Ray, and in book form, and saying how thinking positive leads to being in shape.  He also brought up anyone who had a birthday and threw The Room t-shirts at them.  One fan spoke for all of us saying how we'll cherish the time we spent with Tommy and he was so right.

Official IMDB: The House That Drips Blood On Alex
Teaser-trailer: The House That Drips Blood On Alex

Welcome to Reviews by Max

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