Super Sunday: Justice League: Doom (2012)

A lot of DC Comics fans are going to be so happy when all of DC’s plans are fulfilled and you see the first Justice League film come out in the theaters. But for now, we have all of the animated films to watch to see what kind of scenarios they could come up with for the film. For today’s Super Sunday film, I watched the 2012 animated film Justice League: Doom. In the film, Batman (Kevin Conroy) has some special files which are contingency plans to contain all of the members of the Justice League just in case they went bad. Well, the self proclaimed God Vandal Savage (Phil Morris) sends Mirror Master into the bat cave to steal all of the information that will tell him about all of their weaknesses. With this information, he sends in a team of super villains to vanquish the Earth of the super heroes so that he can carry out his plans of world domination. The film also stars Tim Daly (Wings) as Superman, Susan Eisenberg (Superman/Batman: Apocalypse) as Wonder Woman, Nathan Fillion (Slither) as The Green Lantern, Carl Lumbly (Men Of Honor) as Martian Manhunter, Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville) as The Flash, Bumper Robinson (Enemy Mine) as Cyborg, Carlos Alazraqui (Happy Feet) as Bane, Claudia Black (Rango) as Cheetah, Olivia d’Abo (Conan The Destroyer) as Star Sapphire, and the film was directed by Lauren Montgomery (Superman/Doomsday).

I actually loved the concept of the story for this film because it gives us a different look than what we usually get because all of their identities are compromised. Think about it, Randal Savage learns about all of their weaknesses and then sends Bane and Co. to take care of business so that he can go ahead with his master plan without those pesky superheroes around. We actually see most of superheroes defeated by The Legion Of Doom and like a phoenix they rise from the ashes to hopefully save the day (watch the film to find out). The only thing I didn’t like about the film was the voice they chose for Bane, but then again some people have a problem with Tom Hardy as Bane. I certainly didn’t, but you can please everyone (me included). This one is definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of DC Comics and any of the animated stuff they have put out over the years. Here’s to the future, but for now I am going to give this film an B+ for a final grade.

Ass Whoopin Wednesdays: American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt (1989)

I don’t want you to mix up today’s Ass Whoopin Wednesday movie American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt with that reality game show American Ninja Warrior which is pretty bad ass as well. American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt  was the first film to not feature Michael Dudikoff in it, but Steve James (The Delta Force) came back to reprise his role as Curtis Jackson and he has a couple of new partners in this film. The film is about karate champion Sean Davidson (David Bradley) who travels to an island to compete in what he believes is a karate tournament where he meets Jackson (James) and a hot shot named Dexter (Evan J. Klisser). During their time on the island they discover that something fishy is going on when a bunch of Ninjas show up and they start to attack them. Upon investigating what is going on, Sean gets infected with a virus and now they have to go after a man named Cobra (Marjoe Gortner) to get the antidote before it’s too late. The film also stars Michele B. Chan (Danger Bay) as Chan Lee, Yehuda Efroni (The Delta Force) as General Andreas, Calvin Jung (Robocop) as Izumo, Mike Huff (Project Shadowchaser II) as Dr. Holger, and a crap ton of people as Ninjas and martial artists and the film was directed by Cedric Sundstrom (American Ninja 4). Now let’s look at some of the stats before we review this bad boy:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was definitely a film that was full of that martial arts ass kicking action, but is it the best of the series? The answer to that question is probably not, but it had every intention on being that. It had the making of your typical martial arts film except for the love interest part. Sean witnesses his father get killed in the beginning of the film and he gets to extract revenge on the man responsible later on. As a group, they kill or knockout a whopping total of 65 people which is the most so far that I have seen on Ass Whoopin Wednesdays. The film has some real cheesy lines and some parts of the acting is a little much from some of the b+ players in the film, but while Bradley is obviously no Dudikoff he does a decent job filling in. Steve James’s character of Jackson is actually kind of cool, but a little over the top to today’s standards, but he is one cool brother. I really enjoyed watching the film even though some of the sequences made no sense, but maybe only a true ninja will know the answer to those questions that I have. The film is on Youtube for free, so If you want to watch it then just type in the name, but I definitely want to cover the first film for this post. I am going to give this 3.5 fists out of five for a final grade.

Cheeseball Cinema: Moving Violations (1985)

Today’s Cheeseball Cinema film may be the most unlikely film that I review because of how good the film actually is. The film is called Moving Violations and essentially the film is about a bunch of unlikely people from Birch County that all have to attend traffic school in order to keep their records clean after they were all pull over by an overzealous team of bike cops. Dana Cannon (John Murray) is kind of a jokester whose mouth gets him in a whole lot of trouble especially with one of the cops named Deputy Halk (James Keach) who has a bone to pick with Dana. One day, the deputy ends up barking up the wrong tree and has to teach the traffic school. It is there that he will put Dana and the rest of the class through a lot of trouble in hopes that they will all fail the traffic school until Dana and the class fights back. The film also stars Jennifer Tilly (Bride Of Chucky) as Amy Hopkins, Brian Backer (The Burning) as Scott, Ned Eisenberg (The Burning) as Wink, Clara Peller (The Stuff) as Emma Jean, Wendie Jo Sperber (Back To The Future 2) as Joan, Fred Willard (American Wedding) as Doc Williams, Lisa Hart Carroll (Terms Of Endearment) as Deputy Morris, Nadine Van der Velde (Private School) as Stephanie, Ben Mittleman (Dead Heat) as Spencer, Sally Kellerman (Back To School) as Judge Henderson, and the film was directed by Neal Israel (Bachelor Party).

It was very hard for me to really pick out anything bad about the film other than the fact that it seems to go too fast through the story at times. The only downside to the film is that there was absolutely no T&A and at times they teased us with Jennifer Tilly who would later get naked in films like Hollywood North, The Getaway, and others. For a long time, I was in love with Jennifer Tilly, but that is a whole different story for another day. The film has some really clever scenes and gags in it especially when Murray’s character is interacting with Keach’s tight wad character. This was the 1980’s which means that the hairstyles, clothing, and music was pretty wild and the film has some of that contained within it for your enjoyment. The only thing I found with this film and the film Zapped Again, is that the character does way too many of his jokes within the film. It almost goes way overboard like every line he says is a one liner. The one scene that I loved was when Wendie Jo Sperber’s character had no idea that Doc Williams was a mechanic and not a real doctor. You have to see that scene cause that was typical 80’s comedy gold. Overall, I really enjoyed watching the film and I’m glad I discovered it on Youtube. On a scale of 1 being close to an A-list Hollywood Film and 5 being the cheesiest film of all time I am going to give this film a 1.9 for a final grade.

Super Sunday: The Meteor Man (1993)

For today’s super Sunday film, I wanted to throw a curve ball at what you guys may think I was going to choose for today’s film. I chose the 1993 film The Meteor Man which stars Robert Townsend as Jefferson Reed, a school teacher in an inner city that has been plagued by violence and street gangs for way too long. Some of the local residents want to make a difference, but they just don’t know how their going to do it until one faithful day that will give the steam they need to move ahead. Jefferson will have a chance encounter with a meteor that changes his life forever because it gives him super powers. At first, he wants to keep it a secret, but his family feels that they can use his newly gained powers to finally clean up the streets of Washington DC from one of the most ruthless gangs in The Golden Lords which is headed by it’s ruthless leader Simon Caine (Roy Fegan). Now it’s up to him to save the streets and clean them up for good from the Golden Lords before they figure out his secrets and use it against him. The movie also stars James Earl Jones (The Sandlot) as Earnest Moses, Robert Guillaume (Lean On Me) as Ted Reed, Maria Gibbs (The Jeffersons) as Mrs. Reed, Eddie Griffin (Undercover Brother) as Michael, Don Cheadle (Iron Man) as Goldilocks, Bill Cosby (The Cosby Show) as Marvin, Big Daddy Kane as Pirate, Naughty By Nature as The Bloods, Cypress Hill as The Cripps, Sinbad (Jingle All The Way) as Malik, Frank Gorshin (Twelve Monkeys) as Byers The Monster, Cynthia Belgrave (The Taking Of Pelham One Two Three) as Mrs. Harris, Bobby McGee (Harlem Nights) as Uzi, and the film was written and directed by Robert Townsend as well.

One thing I have to say is that I know it received a poor rating on Rotten Tomatoes because it is a little bit cheesy, but this movie must of had a  little impact in it’s in hey day. You have to think about how many superhero films back in the day had an African-American male as the lead superhero? Not very many, but the ones I can think of is the 1997 antihero/superhero Spawn and the comedy parody film Blankman that came out in 1994. This film definitely predates the amazing melodramas that we got starting with The X-Men and all the way up through today because the film was campy at times and some of the scenes were cheesy. I definitely think it has a classic story to it of a man getting super powers in order to rise up against the oppression faced in his neighborhood. The casting in this film is actually where it’s at for me because it features a mix of old and the new in African American cinema as a lot of stars of yesteryear (Jones, Cosby, Guillaume, Gibbs, Belgrave) mixed with the new (Cheadle, Griffin, Sinbad, McGee). It was almost like the old were passing the torch to the young bucks to take over Hollywood. I also like the fact that they had rappers Big Daddy Kane, Cypress Hill, and Naughty By Nature included in the film as gang members. Marvel Comics later on would come out with a small miniseries of The Meteor Man, but nothing after that. I am going to give the film a B- for a final grade.

Super Sunday: X-Men: Days Of Future Past (2014)

This is something new that we re going to try and attempt to do for boring Sundays and it’s called Super Sunday. On Super Sunday, we will review a different superhero film no matter if it’s attached to DC Comics or Marvel Comics or maybe it’s one outside of the system like The Watchman. For the first Super Sunday post, I wanted to start off with the latest film in the ever expanding X-Men series entitled X-Men: Days Of Future Past which sees our favorite team of mutants in the greatest battle of their lives. In this film, all mutants backs are against the wall thanks to the Sentinels, robots that were created to eradicate the world of all mutants. The only problem is that the Sentinels are eliminating humans as well as mutants and the X-Men along with Magneto (Ian McKellen) are desperate for a solution. Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) has the ability to send mutants back in time and so the X-Men send Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) back in time to stop an event in hopes that it will desperately change the future. The film stars James McAvoy (Trance) as Xavier, Michael Fassbender (Inglorious Basterds) as Erik, Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle) as Raven/Mystique, Nicholas Hoult (Warm Bodies) as Hank/Beast, Peter Dinklage (Game Of Thrones) as Dr. Trask, Daniel Cudmore (Twilight Saga: New Moon) as Colossus, Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation) as Professor Xavier, Josh Helman (Jack Reacher) as Major Bill Stryker, and the film featured the return of Bryan Singer as the director.

There are no other words that I can think of to best describe how I felt about this film other than the fact that I thought it was awesome and epic. This is definitely one of my favorite films in the whole entire series because it has everything you would want from one of these films from the drama, suspense, and a crap ton of action that is non stop. It was definitely weird seeing a lot of the characters die in the film multiple times because you would like to think they are invincible, but quite sadly their not. It was also cool to see them mix the old with the new when old Xavier confronts young Xavier in hopes to get hi to change his mind since he was a lost soul in the 1970’s. The cinematography in the film is amazing and of course the CGI is up to par in the film as well as the acting is as superb as it always is within the series. The writing for the film is what is truly amazing because they were able to create a monster story and everything worked and it was executed superbly. Maybe, we can credit the return of Bryan Singer as the reason for all of that or maybe it’s a combination of all the elements involved in the making of the film. What we now know is that Fox is gearing up to prepare us for X-Men: Apocalypse which is the next film before they give the rights back to Marvel, I can see why Marvel wants all their films back from the major companies, but Fox has done a pretty good job so far with the X-Men. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade because it was a step back in the right direction for Fox and Marvel.

Fury Is Fan-Freakin-Tastic

I ventured out to the movies like I always do on a Tuesday and I didn’t watch a horror movie, but that is because there was a film that had been gaining a lot of praise. I went and checked out the brand new World War II film starring Brad Pit (Inglorious Basterds), Shia LaBeouf (Lawless), Logan Lerman (3:10 To Yuma), Michael Peña (End Of Watch), and Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead). Brad Pitt plays a war hardened character named Wardaddy who leads his crew of misfits (the guys listed above)and a rookie in a tank named Fury in World War II. It’s April of 1945 and the allies are looking to make the final push in Germany to defeat the Nazi party. With all the odds stacked against them, they will drive into the heart of Nazi country and they will try with all their might to take them down in hopes of ending the war once and for all. The film also stars Jim Parrack (Battle Los Angeles) as Sergeant Binkowski, Brad William Henke (Pacific Rim) as Sergeant Davis, Anamaria Marinca (Europa Report) as Irma, Alicia von Rittberg (Romy) as Emma, Jason Isaacs (The Patriot) as Captain Waggoner, Kevin Vance (Sabotage) as Sergeant Peterson, Scott Eastwood (Flags Of Our Fathers) as Sergeant Miles, and this brutal in depth look at the ugliness of war film was directed by David Ayer (End Of Watch).

I said ugliness of war in the above paragraph, but the film also gives you a look at brotherhood and what it means to fight next to your fellow soldiers for a cause. This film could be viewed as a coming of age story for Logan Lerman’s character of Norman Ellison who is the rookie on board with a group of guys that have been battle tested. He has only been in the army for 8 weeks and he is absolutely petrified of war, but you see him grow in the film as he turns into a man thanks to Wardaddy. I will tell you that this film is unlike any other World War II film I had ever seen because the battle scenes depicted are extremely intense and it is not for the faint of heart. Much like what they did in Passions Of The Christ, they are showing you here that war isn’t beautiful. It’s ugly and sad, but unfortunately someone has to fight and like the poster says “War Never Ends Quitely.” I’m just wondering how factual the story itself is, but man their are scenes in this film that are just hard to watch. This is definitely a candidate for movie of the year in next years Monster Entertainment Awards and it’s definitely one of my all time favorite war films. I am giving the film an A+ for a final grade because the acting was amazing, the cinematography was amazing, and the score that goes along with the film is beautiful.

Eddie’s 31 Days Of Halloween 2014: Day 6: Cabin Fever- Patient Zero (2014)

For today’s film for Eddie’s 31 Days Of Halloween, we are looking at the third installment of a film that took the world by storm. Eli Roth’s Cabin Fever kicked off a whole new threat in the horror world and it was genius because what’s scarier than a killer you can’t see or detect? So, we have the third film in the series titled Cabin Fever: Patient Zero which kicks off with authorities in haz-mat suits finding Sean Astin (The Goonies) holding another human being that has melted. He is taken to a facility on an island so that a doctor can figure out a cure to the flesh eating disease because Astin’s character Porter is apparently immune to the disease. Meanwhile, Marcus (Mitch Ryan) is about to get married and his friends decide to take him out to what they think is a deserted island for a bachelor party. What they didn’t expect to find on the island is the flesh eating disease and the facility holding Porter. The film was directed by Kaare Andrews (The ABC’s Of Death) and it also stars Currie Graham (Pompeii) as Dr. Edwards, Ryan Donowho (Altitude) as Dobbs, Brando Eaton (TalHotBlond) as Josh, Jillian Murray (The Graves) as Penny, and Claudette Lali (Way Back Home) as Katia.

Usually straight to DVD film sequels never live up to the name of the original, but I have to say that this one was worth watching. It has some really good and convincing acting especially from Sean Astin, who wears many hats in this film as you will see if you watch it. The characters who are getting eaten alive by this flesh eating disease are as gross as you would want them to be. There is even a scene in the film where two girls are practically falling apart as they are tearing each other’s flesh off and one gets smashed by a giant sexual toy. There is a tiny bit of nudity, but I would have been pleased if it wasn’t there because it had a great story that kept you guessing as to how the spread may have occurred with a man in isolation. As you can tell, I really did like the film and I actually enjoyed the fact that this was shot as a prequel to the first film because it definitely sets up the rest of the films nicely. Give the film a shot, check it out at your local Red Box, video on demand service, or where ever else you grab films. I am going to give this film an A- because I really enjoyed it.

Eddie’s 31 Days Of Halloween 2014: Day 5: The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)

For today’s featured film for Eddie’s 31 Days Of Halloween, I stumbled upon this film when I was reading an article of exciting films to come out of Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. The article contained a film that sounded interesting and it was a meta-sequel which means that they use the story of an original film and they run with it in a new way. The film is called The Town That Dreaded Sundown and I decided to watch the original version that came out in 1976. The film is loosely based on actual events that took place in Texarkana, Texas about a man known as the phantom killer who attacked couples only at night. The murders have gotten so out of hand that they have to hire a famous Texas Ranger named J.D. Morales (based on Texas Ranger Captain M.T. “Lone Wolf” Gonzaullas) to try and find the killer before he kills way too many more. They changed the location from Texas to Arkansas and they also changed some of the names of the people involved in the film to avoid any legal action.  The film stars Ben Johnson (The Wild Bunch) as The Lone Wolf, Andrew Prine (Gettysburg) as Deputy Ramsey, Dawn Wells (Gilligan’s Island) as Helen Reed, Director Charles B. Pierce (Coffy) as A.C. Benson, Steve Lyons (The Legend Of Boggy Creek) as Roy Allen, and Bud Davis (Manhunter) as The Phantom Killer.

The film’s narrator (Vern Stierman) at one point tells you that the killer unfortunately was never caught and that is actually a true fact. Pierce definitely took some liberties with the facts and it actually angered a lot of people especially residents of the actual towns that the murders occurred in. As one website stated that the killer did in fact attack eight people and the murders depicted in the film were pretty factual with some liberties taken (meaning some were exaggerated, etc.). The film at times feels more like a murder mystery film while when the attack sequences happen, then it feels like a horror film with some comedy thrown in the mix. I think that this is definitely one of the first times I ever heard of a killer in a horror film that uses a gun as a weapon which makes it different and sometimes different is a good thing. Some of the kill sequences in the film are OK while others are actually pretty creative like a knife at the end of a trombone (I believe that is what it was). The film isn’t gory in any way and there isn’t any sex in this film so if you’re looking for that, go elsewhere. Some of the dialogue in the film between the actors is pretty good for the most part. Ben Johnson and Andrew Prine are definitely my MVP’s of the film because their on screen chemistry is actually very good. This is definitely one to check out if you’re a fan of 70’s horror films and it’s available to watch right now on Youtube. I am going to give this film a B for a final grade.

A Walk Among The Tombstones A Must See

Liam Neeson has kind of played the same roles over the past few years ever since Taken came out. It doesn’t matter if it was Taken 2 or Non Stop, it seems like the man plays the same role. I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing because Liam Neeson does it right when he plays these roles on the big screen. A Walk Among The Tombstones sees Liam playing Matt Scudder, a former NY Detective, now private detective with some inner demons. After talking to Howie (Eric Nelsen), a fellow AA warrior, he agrees to visit Howie’s brother Kenny’s (Dan Stevens) house for a case he never imagined he would be tangled up in. Some guys are kidnapping women in New York and are forcing husbands to pay a ransom only to not have their wives or girlfriends returned in one piece. So, Matt takes the case and dives head first into this manhunt to try and stop them before anyone else gets harmed. The film also stars David Harbour (The Green Hornet) as Ray, Adam David Thompson (+1) as Albert, Razane Jammal (Djinn) as Carrie, Laura Birn (Purge) as Leila, Brian “Astro” Bradley (Earth To Echo) as TJ, Mark Consuelos (Cop Out) as Reuben, Danielle Rose Russell in her first role as Lucia, and the film was directed by Scott Frank (The Wolverine).

This is definitely one of my top 5 movies of 2014 and I have to say that it was a breath of fresh air in an otherwise lackluster year for great movies in Hollywood. The film was clever and the suspense never led up for a second cause they kept you on the edge of your seat the whole time. This film is an example of what great crime thrillers are supposed to be like. Liam Neeson is a bad ass in the film, but in a different way than we see in the Taken movies. I really wish the bad guys would learn that if he picks up the phone then you are messing with the wrong guy. They never seem to learn that in the films. The tones are very dark, gritty,  and like I said before, the suspense is amazing. To be cliche, the film is one heck of a thrill ride on your emotions as things just heat up and get intense. Even the back story for a lot of the characters in this film are awesome and they follow the rules of screenwriting so well giving you hook, followed by all the turning points and the resolution to end the film. This is a definite must see of any fan of crime thrillers and any fan of Liam Neeson. I am giving this film an A- for a final grade.

Cheeseball Cinema: Ilsa, Harem Keeper Of The Oil Sheiks (1976)

Sexploitation and Cheeseball Cinema go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly, they just go well together. Plus, we covered Ilsa, She Wolf Of The SS sometime ago so I wanted to check out the sequel. So, what we have here for you today is Ilsa, Harem Keeper Of The Oil Sheiks which was released in 1976 and once again stars the beautiful Dyanne Thorne as Ilsa. Ilsa this time is taking care of the operations for Sheik Al Sharif (Jerry Delony) as she takes care of all his sex slaves. Ilsa and the Sheik begin to suspect that their guests, Dr. Kaiser (Richard Kennedy) and Cmdr Scott (Max Thayer) are not just their to negotiate a plan for oil, but to sabotage his operations.  She tries to seduce the Commander, but Ilsa may have found her match. The film also stars Haji (Supervixens) as Alina, Uschi Digard (Supervixens) as Inge, Sharon Kelly (Supervixens) as Nora, George ‘Buck’ Flower (They Live) as a begger, Tanya Boyd (Black Shampoo) as Satin, Marilyn Joi (Kentucky Fried Movie) as Velvet, and the film was directed by Don Edmonds (8 Million Ways To Die).

From Left To Right Clockwise: Dyanne Thorne, Sharon Kelly, Su Ling, and Uschi Digard

You automatically know what you are going to get when you watch a sexploitation, women in prison film which is a whole lot of T&A. The great thing about this film is that it actually has a pretty good story attached to it and the acting is actually pretty good for the most part. The only thing is how old is Ilsa? She served the nazi party during world war 2 and now she serves the oil sheiks some years later and she doesn’t look like she aged one bit. But that is the beauty of these films where you don’t need continuity moving on for every sequel. I actually look forward to seeing the other films in the series for more Cheeseball Cinema entries. As I said before, there is plenty of T&A as well as some unkempt seventies bush and some of the torture devices they came up with for this film were actually quite clever, but a little on the kinky side with some like the boob vice or the exploding vagina. Check out the film on Youtube right now if you would like to because it’s there. On a scale of 1 being close to an A-List Hollywood film and 5 being the cheesiest film of all time, I am going to give the film a 3.5 because it’s practically softcore porn, but with some action and violence. Plus, a lot of the actors were painted to look Arab and it’s a little too obvious.