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I haven't watched a movie in a couple days, just a little busy with work, but it's tradition to keep showing this classic. I'm a fan of Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin's films, as controversial as they can be, but the one everyone universally gathers around is their 1996 hit, Independence Day. A smash hit at the box office, the biggest movie in the world, about America, no, the world's independence from extraterrestrial life. While full of quips and stock characters, the action, world building, and surprisingly poignant drama has stood this movie the test of time. The sequel may have came and went, but Bill Pullman's speech will never die. May everyone have a good 4th of July, and let's just have a moment for one of the best speeches ever.

Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in this history of mankind. Mankind, that word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps its fate that today is the 4th of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom, not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution, but from annihilation. We're fighting for our right to live, to exist. And should we win the day, the 4th of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day when the world declared in one voice: We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today, we celebrate our Independence Day!

The biggest relief I can say about Ready Player One is it works, even without the never-ending barrage of pop culture nostalgia. Upset across all social media platforms, a concern I took part in, was the movie had no identity to show for itself, that it relied heavily on better films from the 80's to sell itself. I do not think the comments I made were bad or outdated now, as it is important to criticize art, but I can happily say I did enjoy this movie's core, even without the aid of the surface eye candy. This is the most Spielberg movie that man has made in quite awhile, after such masterpieces like The BFG. It follows the standard hero's journey he's used a number of times, this closely paralleling E.T., which was a welcome return. This is the director I fell in love with, and it seems he knew how to take the disaster of a book this is adapted from, and create an entertaining blockbuster. My bigger hiccups about the picture, are one or two tasteless scenes, specially the haunted house rendition of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. It's a crowd-pleaser moment, understandably, but something about it's total disregard for the meanings from the original film almost come off as disrespectful. It's the closest the movie touched the "Hey, remember this thing you recognize?!" predicament I was fearing before watching. I think a more shallow movie, hell Grease would've worked much better, could fix this. Any other issues I had could be pointed at it's predictability, and over-reliance on filling the run-time with references, some of which don't advance the story much. I could see what they were doing, showing Wade being smarter than everyone else in the game, but having him list off stuff like it's a references checklist is where it can get half-assed. But most of the callbacks are respectful and work, they did their research, thankfully. No cringe shit like Marvel Studios' Black Panther's, "What're those?!" Just end me. Happy to just say I've seen another blockbuster in four months that I didn't hate. I'm going to remember that opening race, good shit. And, I geeked out like hell when MechaGodzilla was fighting The Iron Giant. It makes no sense, but I understand that's the point.

Man, I've gotten behind in writing reviews. I'm writing this in my college library, that's how pressed I am for time. The next couple entries will just be short, quick rambles for the films I've seen in the past week. Death Wish, I'm puzzled at the lukewarm and left-leaning reactions I'm hearing from audiences and those at Rotten Tomatoes. Was it released at "at a bad time" and is it a conservative's wet-dream? I don't know, ask the critics who denounced the original film from 1974, quote, "It was attacked by many film critics due to its support of vigilantism and advocating unlimited punishment of criminals. The novel denounced vigilantism, whereas the film embraced the notion." If you aren't aware, somehow, Eli has a hard-on for grindhouse features and exploitation movies from the 70's. He's worked with Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez multiple times now, Grindhouse, and the trio all love this era and low-budget type of production. So, the love for that genre is translated in a fascinating and fun approach, whereat times, the film feels like a flashback to drive-in cheese, in a good way. At other points, however, it captures a sniff or essence of a Wes Craven, yes, I just said that. Death Wish feels like Wes Craven's Scream for a few elongated sequences, noticeably the critical break-in with Bruce Willis' family. It's very reminiscent of the opening from Scream, which is why I bring it up. It may not be as clever, but it has that 90's flavor, like this movie has been in a time capsule for the last two decades. That doesn't make it dated, but it has that intoxicating aroma, which is what I love about Death Wish. Eli goes full-on with his kills, and they're all justified, if you actually watch the movie. The shoot-outs are so grand and memorable, I jumped in my seat and lost my breath repeatedly. For those who have seen it, that scene where he walks up to the "ice-cream seller" and just shoots him without hesitation, come on, is that not one of the best kills since some of the westerns of the 60's? Bruce Willis is a serious badass, you will want to be him. It's a true return for him as an action star. Mind you, it's a bit gory, you will be squeamish at a time or two, but that's Eli's formula, note Hostel as one of his more famous movies. But as a fan myself of the exploitation era, and genuine pure action, there's not a lot left for me to say but, this is a criminally underrated and underexposed action flick. A great return for the genre with majestic and perfected action. Sounds like high praise? Might be, but anyone who's a fan of THE grindhouse needs to see this now.

This movie is a miracle it exists and I'm so glad it does. It's great to see traditional 2D animation breath this lovingly on the big screen, and at the screening I was at, with a pretty decent crowd. I hope this means a comeback for this style and promises more in the future. Sure, the story is a little derivative of countless other works, but what makes the film feel whole and worthwhile is Mary Smith. She is just too damn adorable and likable right from when you first see her. The whole story is told from her perspective, so there are some sub-plots that aren't expanded or explained, and this is the reason why. It didn't matter in the main course. The point is you're supposed to be just as confused and entranced as her, and it works. The film manages to make itself fun and unique despite it's predictable and similar tropes you see in other anime films. The cast is adorable, the story is heart-warming, and the animation is absolutely spectacular, like really, some of the best I've ever seen, even better than a couple of the Miyazaki movies. Studio Ponoc really wanted to start out strong, to prove they can continue making these movies, and God, I hope they do. If you can still find a screening in your area, go seek it out. It's seriously enjoyable for what it is.

I love that they even flat out mention Groundhog Day as a joke at the end of the movie. Nice little cherry on top of the cake. This movie was just badass. There's not a lot I can really complain about, actually, except for maybe one part dragging or a plot thread I thought was underdeveloped, but overall, not at all. From beginning to end, Happy Death Day is one of the funnest experiences I've had watching a movie in years. This really needs to become a classic like Krampus or other frequently mentioned horror flicks, and Jessica Rothe needs to have a career after this. Her talent she gave in this starring role was one of the most believable and raw performances I've seen from a horror protagonist since like Jamie Lee Curtis or Marilyn Burns. She was just absolutely-fucking-fantastic. She starts off as kind of a brat, and a bad person to her peers, but as the events unfold, a lot like Groundhog Day, she begins to make amends with her friends and family and change overall. Her father is mentioned throughout, him trying to call her every morning, and it's actually quite heartwarming to see her set things straight with him near the finale. There were a couple small details I liked that emphasized this thread. For example, at the beginning of the movie on the first day, her roommate makes her a cupcake for her birthday, but Theresa just throws the cupcake in the trash right in front of her. On the second, after the first kill, she just puts the cupcake on the dresser. On the third, she almost gets ready to eat it. There was some pretty clever writing that tricks the viewer into thinking the killer could be one person, but it's actually another. The ending was a little rushed with it's reveal, and that's the part where I mean underdeveloped, but I think it still works enough. Just like the protagonist, the movie doesn't spend too much time on this character, so the out-of-field reveal makes sense, to me at least.

Overall, just tons of extremely hilarious sequences that made me grin hard, especially the ones with Carter, played by Israel Broussard. I don't think I've smiled this hard watching a movie in quite awhile, all at the same time serving us with deliciously awesome horrific scenes. In one part, when Theresa is in a dorm room with one of her friends, who turns up the bass too loud, the killer starts stabbing him to death in the background while Theresa is distracted. She's on her phone, and she gets a text from a friend saying she hopes they both die, while the guy is being stabbed. Sorry, I just love little tie-ins like that. There's plenty more similar stuff written in, and I just had fun with that shit. I'd go as far to say I enjoyed this more than the recent outing of IT, which I did like. Horror has just been doing really well this year, and I'm glad it so is.

Now THAT is a lot of blood.

Why, oh why, do I love this movie, so? Why do I love you so much, Raimi? However, in this case, I can understand why someone wouldn't enjoy the film. The story can be a little poor at times, the pacing is occasionally slow, and the characters aren't the most developed. I think the movie gets more epic towards the finale, but that's not to say there aren't good points in the beginning and mentioned categories. I love the thematic connections that came back at the end of the movie to wrap a nice little bow to Ash and Ashley's arc. The necklace Ash gives Ashley from the beginning prevents him from chainsaw-ing her neck at the end, and his eye-open eye-close game Ash played on here, demon Ashley plays later on him when he's burying her. But aside from a couple beats like that, the story is very simple. A group of friends go to a cheap cabin in the forest, they find a demonic book, then all hell breaks loose... literally.

What I really love about this movie is it's presentation. The red and blue color palettes and framing of shots are just gorgeously wild, as excepted from Raimi. My absolute favorite parts are the hand-held moments from the POV of the demons. I've never seen a horror movie before tackle a motion like this, and it turned out beautifully. There's something a slight amateur-ish about it, but lovable. Actually, the whole movie is very obviously low-budget independent. The cabin is clearly on a sound stage with propped lighting and fog machines, but something about it's look is just intoxicating. It's the ideal cabin for a horror movie. Everything about it is mesmerizing.

I think what fans like to draw from this movie is the experience it provides. The mythology behind the book of the dead and the ride you take with Ash throughout this movie, and the subsequent sequels, is something I can see people getting rallied behind. It's amazing how Raimi was able to take, what seemed like just a simple horror movie, and provide a whole successful franchise around it. Now that I think about, I actually want my own copy of the book of the dead.

Highly recommend viewing for this October!
Lots of fun horror action and plenty of blood!

Such a simple premise, yet so effective.

I think that's my only complaint about this classic, is how minimal and straight-forward the film's story is. Now -- that's not to say that's a bad thing, 'cause it works enough for this. What many others have already commented is how The Texas Chain Saw Massacre very much goes for a documentary-style of filmmaking. It opens with a stock narrator telling us what's about to happen, as if implying to the viewers, that the events that are shown, really happened. The gritty and dark grainy photography Hooper shoots come off as archival footage, like this is actual footage of a real sequence of events. Also, what I noticed throughout, was the inclusion of rather unnecessary details in quite a few scenes. Why would we need to see someone get out of a car, go back inside the gas station to turn off the light and close the door, and then get back in the car? That's not important to the story. In most films, you'd cut that right out. But these small and left-in touches add to the documentary quality. This is something that newer Texas Chainsaw films are missing, as they go for a much more cinematic look, as opposed to this real-life cinematography. Going slightly off-topic, this is why James Cameron, for the 2012 restoration of Titanic, bumped up the aspect ratio of his film to 16:9 and color corrected the movie differently, to give his film about the Titanic a more television-like documentary facade. I bet most of you didn't even think about that.

But as for this beast of a movie, which spawned many sequels, video games, books, spin-off movies, Halloween Horror Nights mazes, and etc, what makes this gruesome feature so inciting? Why was it such a phenomenon and became possibly the most recognized horror icon in history? Some point at the "Based On A True Story" gimmick that the marketing team strategized, and while the movie is very loosely based on real serial killer, Ed Gein, most of the movie is fiction. I think the gruesome depiction of someone getting sliced up with a chainsaw, which hadn't really been seen on film before, was captivating and exciting for viewers. This is most likely why this extremely low-budgeted 16mm production went on to make over 35 million at the box office over the course of 8 years. Who wouldn't go see the one disgusting horror film you just gotta see? And Leatherface's costume is just so gross, but brilliant. A cannibal who wears his victims' faces as masks? Fucking grotesque, but amazing. Can I also just mention the bleak and fucked-up set design? Notice at the final dinner scene, the chair Sally's sitting in, the arm rests are literally just human arms. Awesome. Nowadays, the feature is a slight dated compared to some horror films, in terms of pacing and editing, but The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is just as engrossing and fast-paced as you can get. I did not feel the run-time at all in this, despite it's sometimes slow-pace and scenes that have no much going on. Just like Jaws, which came out a year later, the movie starts out slow, with an energetic group of friends just taking a ride through Texas, and the movie accelerates to an insane chase sequence, eventually the movie just turning into an absolute nightmare. The claustrophobic and up-close tight photography makes for some deeply disturbing imagery. What also helps this movie over some others is the pitch-black visuals at night. In most other productions, in order for the audience to see what's going on at night, the crew could be using a low-light camera to ever-so slight brighten up the night sequences just so you could see. In this film thought, the night scenes are quite literally pitch-fucking-black. You can't see shit in this, which is probably the most realistic and frightening lighting; not knowing where Leatherface is going to show up makes for an even more tense atmosphere. The final scene at the dinner table and subsequent chase at the end are two of my favorite scenes in horror history. Sickening stuff. If you haven't checked out the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre yet, please do, for Tobe Hooper and Gunnar Hansen.

Highly recommended viewing for this October!
R.I.P. Tobe Hooper and Gunnar Hansen.

I do enjoy this one to a certain extent, especially the design of the wasteland (I even had the art book when it came out) but story-wise, this movie does nothing for me. It's trying too hard to be Mad Max with Terminators, but it doesn't really work. I feel that part of the problem is that the main character Marcus, played by Sam Worthington, is spoiled to us in the trailer that he is actually a terminator when he is found in the 2018 present day war. It would've been a cool twist if the audience found out half-way through the movie that he was one, but NOPE. The same problem happened with Genisys. Give away the big twist right in the fucking trailer.

It needs work with character development. Marcus has the potential to be an interesting anti-hero, one that struggles with living reality as a Terminator, but he doesn't amount to much. We're told his backstory and... he can sometimes but kind to others... and... uh... yeah, I don't even know. I like the scene where Moon Bloodgood is lying her head on Worthington's chest and she says he has a strong heart. It's a clever double entendre. He has a strong heart because he's a Terminator and he has good in him.

Again, the action scenes are great and I love the set design. Probably the best (and only) Terminator war film we're going to get. If the script was reworked and Marcus had better character motives, this would be rated much higher.

Final note, this was the movie that introduced me to Anton Yelchin. May he rest in peace.