Movie | Gnomeo and Juliet | Pass

Cute enough.

Movie | Detective Dee | Fail

This is obviously a pretty good movie, but I just couldn't get into it. I think a lot of people would like it, just not me. Tsui Hark just doesn't do it for me and I'm so bone tired of Wuxia.

Movie | Willard | Pass

I was trying to think of another remake that surpassed the original. Here's another good example, mostly due to the power of Glover's performance. Hilariously, they also integrated the Michael Jackson song that appeared in the sequel to the original, titled Ben.

Movie | Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows | PASS

Marvelous documentary about genius producer Val Lewton.

Movie | Battle: Los Angeles | Pass

If you liked the Marines versus alien robot scenes in Transformers, you'll like this. We found it surprisingly entertaining for a mindless Hollywood smash 'em up. What was also surprising was how horrifically bad the soundtrack was. It was if they could only afford one track, so they just kept playing it over and over and over. Still, a good way to turn off your brain and enjoy a simple action movie. Sometimes that fits the bill just perfectly.

Movie | Man From Nowhere | Pass

A good hit-man movie that owes a whole bunch to a certain Mr. Luc Besson. Thanks for the recommendation, RM!

TV | Metal Evolution | Pass

Excellent first episode! Especially the connection made to Holst, Elvis, Little Richard and Howlin' Wolf. Looking forward to more from Dunn and crew. I haven't seen his other work, but now I want to. He's sort of a cool Ken Burns, if you can imagine that.

Movie | No Maps For These Territories | Pass

I insulted the Godfather of cyberspace, even though he most assuredly wouldn't remember it. And why would he?

At a book signing, I had him autograph my Johnny Mnemonic poster and although I can't recall exactly what I said to him, it was not a positive comment about that project. He was nice enough to smile and chuckle about it.

Cool guy and this is a neat documentary detailing his thoughts on today's society and his works that foretold them. A must see for scifi fans.

Movie | Moontrap | Fail

So bad, it was almost good in a cheesy way. Despite the presence of Bruce Campbell, it wasn't.

Movie | Scrooged | Fail

We watched this again, for research into another project that we're up to. I remember this being much better than it was. It's a mess. The cast is enjoyable, but it's really pretty bad. The best part is the Danny Elfman soundtrack, which is amazing.

Movie | SUPER | PASS

Imagine Taxi Driver envisioned by a comic book fanatic. That's what you get with SUPER. The violence is really vivid and you get the whole thing wrapped in an "indie" movie container. Same director that brought us Slither. NK said at one point, "Haven't we already watched this movie?" She's right, we have seen this all before, a mix of the aforementioned, Kick-Ass, Defendor and Special, to name a few. If you have the stomach for it (in your face violence, depressing characters) and you liked those other movies as much as I did, then this is a must see. The ending is extremely well done and really makes the movie.

Web Series | Enter The Dojo | Pass

Not quite up to the same standard as The Foot Fist Way, but a must see for long time martial artists. See the latest in the series.

Movie | Animal Kingdom | Pass

Modern, violent, thriller about a psycho Aussie crime family. Well done and the excellent cast really sells it.

Movie | No Escape | PASS

Hadn't seen this one in a long time and don't remember it being all that good. Wrong. It's fantastic!

Another take on the The Most Dangerous Game theme, this has sort of a Waterworld/Mad Max feeling to it. The restrained gore makes it all that much better. A forgotten classic.

Movie | The Thing (82) | PASS

How rare is it when a remake surpasses the original? VERY. I can't think of one just off the top of my head. Some were good, most were bad, but it never happens that a remake is better than the original.

This one really works because of the cast and John Carpenter. Very gross, actually pretty scary and Kurt Russell's weird sombrero is just plain awesome.

The original was pretty good, too. I don't know about the 2011 remake. I'm sure I'll see it sooner or later.

A horror keeper.

Movie | Attack the Block | PASS

This was the second movie of our two night Halloween movie marathon. Was it any good? Two words for you:

Massive Fun!

A crew of English ruffians take on an alien attack on their "block". A straightforward concept, but it has surprising complexity. For example, there are times when we were actually rooting for the aliens!

Definitely R rated, with some gore and lots of foul language. There's a hilarious scene where even the kids are repulsed by the "potty mouth". Be prepared for almost impenetrable accents at times. But, you'll get the gist.

Fantastic soundtrack featuring Basement Jaxx.

It was a perfect Halloween movie. A total keeper sleeper and a must see!

Movie | Forbidden Planet | Pass

A couple of months ago, someone asked me if there were any scifi movies before Star Wars, as if there weren't any. And this person was a full grown adult in his 40s.

Uhh.... somebody needs to rent an old movie once in a while. That statement/mock question so flabbergasted me that my mind went utterly blank, like an empty lead balloon.

While there are plenty of genre films that predate it (Metropolis being a prime example), Forbidden Planet is arguably the first big-budget, recognizably named cast scifi movie and a shining example of what this person has completely missed (sarcastically).

Sure, it's dated. That's because it was made in 1956, not 2010. And, it's rather slow. What?!? A movie can survive if it's not all guts, explosions and actors phoning it in?!? Despite all of that, it's just as cutting edge as Star Wars. How about the first movie to have an entirely electronic soundtrack? It's also loosely based on Shakespeare and Gene Roddenberry was inspired by it to create a little show called Star Trek.

Yes, Bucky, there were scifi movies before that Vader-fest. Lots of them. Lots of them were actually really good, too.

I know...shocking.