The Bin has a point in writing; “While we would never recommend watching these films, we would recommend reading our reviews of them.  Hey, it’s only natural to enjoy the pain of others — why do you think comedies contain so many shots to the crotch?” This is entirely true. The funniest comedies are the ones that make fun of people; you know the shows with the smart ass that is always cracking jokes at someone else’s expense? Same goes for movies no? Nolahn takes terrible movies and makes fun & interesting reviews about them, at least these bad movies will be remembered in some way.

The Bin also has a cool addition to its home page; “Link O the ‘Week”, where Nolahn writes a little blurb about an interesting website he has come across. I thought that was a neat idea!

So check out The Bin when you have a chance, you will be as pleasantly surprised as I was. You’re just in time too as Next week begins Mockbuster Month at the Bin. All month long, the Bargain Bin Review will feature crappy knock-offs of crappy summer blockbusters!  You won’t want to miss it.

So I watch the TV Series True Blood on HBO. I just discovered today another vampire TV Series that premiered in 1997 and was on the air for 2 seasons. The series stems from the movie by David Bowie The Hunger. Good news if you don’t like illegal downloading, the 2 seasons are now available on DVD. Probably only online for now. I haven’t seen any of the episodes yet, but it looks really good, and it was from a 1983 movie, which apparently was really good.
I’m surprised I never heard of the movie or the show. Now that I’ve gotten into vampires I noticed every show and movie that is vampire related… all thanks to Twilight. Loved Twilight. I’ve almost finished reading the series.. on the last book more than halfway through. Then I got into True Blood, the TV Series on HBO. Which to me is such a fantastic show. I think about watching the new episodes before it airs.. I get all excited. Then I started watching older vampire movies that never used to interest me.. Dracula, Interview with the Vampire. I even downloaded a Japanese movie about Vampires, which wasn’t actually that great.
So get on it people. Google search The Hunger and check it out!

The movies premise is that a Vietnam vet wrote a novel Tropic Thunder and this movie is basically the telling of the making of that movie (a movie within a movie if you will). The director of the movie is told to shoot the movie as a live action film, guerilla style. However the area in which they start shooting the film in is actually populated by heroin drug smugglers. The actors are unaware of this and think everything that happens is part of the movie.

Robert Downey Jr., Ben Stiller & Jack Black all played great rolls in the film, however it’s actually Tom Cruise who steals the spotlight in this one. Cruise plays the movie’s producer Les Grossman, who turns out to be freaking hilarious. I had no idea Cruise could be this funny. I’ve actually never really enjoyed his films, but after seeing him as a “wacko” in this comedy, I think he has found his calling. I would have to say that Downey’s role as an Australian playing a black man is a close second to being funny next to Cruise.

The movie was well directed and acted, it is supposed to be a comedy and it lives up to its genre, being funny. I laughed a lot and would definitely see it again.

So why is streaming movies online beneficial? It’s simple really. Unlike other online movie websites such as Graboid.com and My-movie-download.com, Ireel.com is the only service online today that does not require monotonous plug-ins and downloaded players. All you have to do is sign up for free (yes, there is no cost to join) and you can watch movies right away with just one click. How transcendent that does that sound to you?

Enjoy a wide variety of movies in Standard Definition and High Definition content from Major Studios such as Paramount as well as Minor Studios and Independents alike. IReel.com is the newest web based online streaming website that offers VOD (Video on Demand) this is basically like a rental. Video is streamed online and cannot be saved to your computer. SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand) which allows paying subscribers an unlimited access to applicable titles.

Lastly DTO (Download to Own) allows users to purchase a caption. Members have the option of “a la carte” service, or to acquire a premium membership at a low monthly subscription fee which allows member access to additional services that are not available to regular members, such as extended viewing period, free movies, and High Definition quality movies.

The main focus of Ireel.com is to make the movie watching experience effortlessness and enjoyable. Who wants to download movies when you don’t have to anymore? Why not give us a try, you have nothing to lose.

In fact, in 2004 American consumers racked up $117 billion in online spending, with a fair share of that amount spent on entertainment and entertainment news.

One of the latest entertainment options - Blockbuster Online - is a new, easy-to-use online DVD rental service that can bring the movie store right to your door with just a few clicks of a computer mouse. With more than 30,000 titles to choose from, movie lovers can rent all the movies they want, from the hottest new releases to independent, special interest and hard-to-find films.

For less than $15 a month, Blockbuster Online users can rent up to three movies at a time and return them at their convenience with the provided pre-paid postage envelope. After a DVD is returned, the next title from the subscriber’s online movie queue is mailed, and will usually arrive within one to two days.

“By combining the power of the Internet, the magic of the movies and the trusted Blockbuster name, we’re offering the ultimate in home entertainment convenience at an incredible value,” said Shane Evangelist, senior vice president of Blockbuster Inc. and general manager of Blockbuster Online. “And for those times when you can’t wait for a movie to arrive in your mailbox, we offer the flexibility to rent movies and games at our stores.”

The new online DVD rental service is especially convenient for people who live in rural areas, since online access means there’s no need to drive long distances to the rental store. Busy parents and on-the-go professionals - or anyone starved for time - also have easy access to the latest and greatest releases, plus many of the classics.

“We’ve designed a service that really delivers for our subscribers,” said Evangelist. “There are no due dates, no late fees, unlimited DVDs at your disposal, and we’re the only online DVD rental service that gives each subscriber two free in-store rentals each month, good for movies or games.”

Movies are one of the most common forms of entertainment there is in our world. This is because they allow us to escape our world and enter into another world for a couple of hours and gives our immediate concerns a rest. They allow us to travel to worlds we will never be able to experience otherwise. They bring excitement and intensity of emotion that we would not have otherwise. These are all pretty good things right? And probably some of the main reasons that they are so popular.

On the flip side movies create unrealistic expectations and make unhealthy lifestyles and choices look appealing. This is especially true for those of us who have grown up in this age of technology. You see back when movies were simpler it was easier to separate them from reality. Now however the special effects and computer animations create such realism that it is confusing our kids. You’ve heard stories in the news about a child being killed or seriously hurt by another child because they were acting out something they saw in a movie. The other thing is that our children are being exposed to hyper intense scenes of violence that it is surprising that more Columbine’s haven’t happened really.

And what about Hollywood’s portrayal of sex? Well lets just say that we all were really surprised the first time that we had sex. It wasn’t nearly as smooth and well coordinated as we had seen every time on the silver screen was it. What if sex was portrayed realistically as something that can be extremely good and fulfilling given that the two people are committed to each other for life and are willing to work at it? What if the fact that there is a lot of responsibility that goes with the pleasure what dealt with? Well lots of people believe that we would have far less trouble with sex at its root. Teenage sex wouldn’t be as rampant. Unwanted pregnancies would be a far smaller issue. STDs would not be spinning out of control, and on and on.

So are movies good or bad? Well the answer is both. Now the question remains, does one outweigh the other?

In A Dark Place seemed like an interesting movie, solely because I based it on the DVD’s box cover. It looked like a gruesome horror movie surrounding children. Usually there is nothing creepier than evil kids.

Once I popped the movie in though, In A Dark Place, just dragged on and on, and nothing made much sense.

In the beginning Anna begins to sense that their is something deeply wrong with Flora. Only I never sensed it, or were given any examples of why she was labeled a disturbed child by Anna. So the kid doesn’t think finger paint is lady like. What’s so wrong about that?

Shortly after establishing a relationship with Flora, Anna gets a letter from some private school that Miles (Flora’s brother) is expelled from the school. When Anna goes to pick him up, she asks why he is expelled, but is not given a reason.

As a viewer you assume the reasons will be brought out to the table later on in the movie…only…the reason is never brought out.

After the children are together, I began to wonder if Miles was the evil one, he seemed to glitch in and out of a good kid, and into an evil kid. Only you just couldn’t be sure. I was left scratching my head most of the time.

By the middle of the flick, Anna then begins to have mental break downs where she thinks she is seeing ghosts of dead people who once lived in the house. Just when the movie began to get interestingly confusing, Anna goes and has a lesbian encounter with some weird broad who lives in the house. I was thrown off track. What the hell is going on?

The kids are evil? Miles is evil? The lady who sucks boobies is whack? Anna is a freak?

The movie progressed, and Anna gets more wacky, so much that you are not sure what the hell is going on. Is she the evil one?

Like the first Death Wish, the movie sets itself in New York City where we meet radio personality Erica Bain (Jodie Foster) who happily lives with her fianc

As the former Benjamin Barker, Depp is magnificent as Todd. His voice may lack the thunder that would be expected on stage, but on the big screen it’s more than suitable. Purists may find it a little ragged and flat at times–Michael Crawford needn’t worry about Depp–but it’s an ideal manifestation of the corrupting anger and rotting vengeance that fill Todd’s soul. The same can be said for Helena Bonham Carter as the fiendish Mrs. Lovett. Sure she will occasionally descend into something approaching a hectoring screech, but consider for a moment that she’s a baker who grinds people into meat and serves them up in piping hot pies!

Voices aside, both actors deliver rich, complex performances. The focus and intensity that Depp brings to his role is riveting. Within minutes of the film’s opening there is no doubt that Depp will have his revenge and have it with gusto. Taking a step back from the film, realize that Todd is a thoroughly despicable character. He often kills indiscriminately, but Depp is so powerful as Todd that you eventually begin to relish his countless murders. Carter’s Mrs. Lovett is, perhaps, even more of a psychopath. Slicing a throat is one thing. Butchering a man and then serving him up for dinner is quite another. Nevertheless, you delight in her, too.

As for the killings, Burton stages them in spectacularly gory fashion. The phrase ‘geysers of blood’ is often used casually when describing a violent film. In Sweeney Todd the phrase is explicitly correct. Depp is often obscured under the high-powered jets of plasma that repeatedly erupt from his customer’s necks. Amazingly, these scenes aren’t even the most disturbing. Once Todd finishes giving a ’shave’, he dumps the corpse down a hole where it cracks loudly at the bottom as the skull splinters and the neck breaks cleanly. It’s all completely over the top and, of course, wonderful, hilarious, inspired.

The same can be said for the film as a whole. In Sweeney Todd, Tim Burton has found material that meshes perfectly with his artistic sense. You could call it a horror film or a screwball comedy and you’d be right both times. The design is, as would be expected from a Burton picture, lavish and spectacular. The supporting cast, especially Alan Rickman and Timothy Spall, are superb. Only the love story between Johanna and Anthony falls a little flat. It’s a minor quibble, though, in an otherwise outstanding film. Sweeney Todd joins Ed Wood and Edward Scissorhands as Burton’s finest work. It may eventually even be considered his best.

But the film doesn’t try and pander to the type of audience who want to see a flash of tits. Actually, it doesn’t pander to anyone. It is by far and away the most experimental film to come out of Hollywood recently, if you discount David Lynch.

First of all, the film version of Southland Tales is actually chapters four, five and six. Hey if Star Wars did it… The first three chapters are found in the Southland Tales graphic novel, which actually makes more sense in itself and of the film as a whole, explaining the various theories behind the film, whereas the film itself drops the audience in the middle of a world that is far removed from the one we live in.

There is wi-fi energy known as Fluid Karma, a screenplay written while under the influence of drugs that foretells the End Of Days, and some freaky time travelling. So, everything you would expect from the brains behind Donnie Darko.

The film is a mess, but an interesting one. Part of the disconnected plot is concerned with the enigma that is the Book Of Revelations found in the Bible, and you could view this as its modern cinematic counterpart. Some view Revelations as a puzzle to be solved, containing a code to be dissected. Richard Kelly’s film is trying to push this, using the graphic novel and the film’s website to further the story and the puzzling plotlines within, quite literally forcing the audience to actively seek it out, or, as most people did, walk out of the cinema.

While this cross-media, story/puzzle thing is a bold move, the film should stand on its own legs, which, sadly, it does not. It’s weird and wonderful, annoying and infuriating, littered with great performances and godawful ones. It will no doubt follow Darko in becoming a cult film, especially on DVD.

We do not recommend seeing this film, but you need to see it. It is the road less travelled.