juanadelacruz.com » Movies

Scream, Vampires Suck

Rona — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 15:08:08 +0000

Watched Scream on Star Movies and it felt like I was the last one to get all the jokes in the movie-spoofs that followed. The scary movie character freak is so campy. His lines are campy. I had to make a conscious effort to remind myself that this is not one of the spoofs and that it is the movie itself which those movie-spoofs are based on. I think this is the exact situation of Robert Downey Jr.’s character in Tropic Thunder is in. Watching Scream again after 13 – 14 years ago (that is way long ago, shite) gave me that “I am the dude playing the dude disguised as another dude” feeling. Speaking of spoofs, here’s one that I’m looking forward to…

But He Bended More Water Than Air

Rona — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 03:00:19 +0000

While watching Airbender, all I can think of is what a big fucking giant asshole of M. Night Shyamalan for doing this to us. If he was a boyfriend or a girlfriend, he’s one of those whom you’ve realized is a real dick or bitch after all. If you’ve seen Airbender, consider yourself warned of M. Night. From now on, I’m not going to watch any of his movies with blind faith that it would be awesome no matter what. It could be that his last 2 films before this one where big honking signals and I chose to ignore it that’s why I feel so betrayed. Airbender was completely left field and highly inappropriate and it’s best to just chuck it to experience. Then I saw Inception. M. Night, check out Nolan. He’s getting away with a lot of things and I am more than willing to lead the way for him to get away with a whole lot more.

Airbender can’t be mentioned with Inception in the same sentence. See what I just did? Yes something like that M. Night.

Easy A and The Adjustment Bureau

Rona — Fri, 14 May 2010 07:11:59 +0000

Can’t wait to see ‘Easy A’ solely because it stars Emma Stone. Emma Stone was also in Zombieland which sealed the deal for her being awesome. She is the love child of Aubrey Plaza — that girl in ‘Parks and Recreation’, a show that should be around for a lot of seasons, and Lindsay Lohan, that is before she got all crazy and wasted.

Aubrey Plaza

Lindsay Lohan

Emma Stone

Matt Damon and Emily Blunt in The Adjustment Bureau. ’nuff said. Anything that Damon does will always be better so I don’t care if it seems like a movie that has already been done before. Also, this film is based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, the person responsible for ‘Blade Runner’, ‘Total Recall’, ‘Minority Report’ and ‘A Scanner Darkly’.

Iron Man 2 Trailer, Robert Downey Jr, John Lloyd Cruz, Japan

Rona — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 06:59:21 +0000

John Lloyd Cruz and Robert Downey Jr. They look alike, no? Incidentally, they both have been prevented from entering Japan. This week, John Lloyd Cruz is making headlines for allegedly giving false information about his trip in the country. Last year, while promoting Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. spent almost 6 hours detained in the Narita Airport because of his past felony records. I can understand being sent back to your country for lying about your true intentions but to be barred because of PAST offenses? They keep tabs of Hollywood actors’ criminal records?

Here’s the Iron Man 2 trailer. Watch out for Iron Man/Tony Stark’s casual “You complete me.” to Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts. Damn funny.

Night Of The Living Dead Won’t Stay Dead!

Rona — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:15:14 +0000

So you like gory and scary films eh? Do you anticipate and watch with glee or close your eyes and look away when that zombie creature is about to pluck the visceral organs of its screaming and squirming victim? Either way, you would still want to watch and see what’s going to happen next because zombie films are that good. It is soooo damn bad that it is THAT good. George A. Romero is regarded as the person responsible for the whole zombie genre and all of its sub-genre because of Night of the Living Dead, a low-budget black-and-white film which he co-wrote and directed on 1968. Night of the Living Dead heavily influences the modern pop-culture zombie films and spawned several sequels and countless knockoffs and remakes. It tells of the story of the efforts of Ben and Barbra (yes, spelled just like the Streisand) and five other people to survive the night from the recently dead while trapped in a rural farmhouse in Pennsylvania. Sounds familiar? Yes. Because this is also the same plot of most zombie films that you have already seen or will see in the future.

You can watch Night of the Living Dead in full over at YouTube because of a copyright brouhaha way back then. You can read all about it here. Also, you can download it at archive.org.

This film won’t be in the National Film Registry and be deemed “historically, culturally or aesthetically important” for nothing. Watch it. Don’t forget to turn off the lights.

The Wolfman

Rona — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:22:05 +0000

Take that, Twilight! Opening next year February, The Wolfman is about, you guessed it, a werewolf. What I am excited about this film is its cast. Hugo “Agent Smith” Weaving, check. Anthony “Hello Clarice” Hopkins, check check. Benicio “do i even need to middle name him” Del Toro, check check check. And then there’s Emily Blunt, check 10x. I can’t believe how funny she is in The Devil Wears Prada. She could easily be your favorite actress any time of the day. She just can’t be pigeon-holed, playing different types of characters in different film genre’s–period, indie, romantic-comedy’s, and now horror. Plus she stars with 3 more Hollywood people that I also like in next year’s Gulliver’s Travel: Amanda Peet, Jason Segel and Jack Black. Just reading their names already makes me laugh. Now I don’t know which I am more excited to see.

2012 and the Movie 2012

Rona — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:11:39 +0000

A movie entitled 2012 will be shown in theaters on Friday, November 13. Yes, that’s Friday the 13th. That will put more hype than there already is into it. It is co-written, produced and directed by Roland Emmerich, the same person who brought us The Day After Tomorrow, Independence Day and Godzilla. This dude is into all things armageddon-y and apocalypse-y. So without seeing the film, you kinda know, (at least I do) what to expect based on his previous works. Big on special effects, heavy on the CGI, somewhat cheesy lines and a collaboration of people who would save the day from doomsday. A popcorn movie that you would watch any time of the day. Here are the taglines of the movies mentioned:
Independence Day (1996): “We’ve always believed we weren’t alone. Pretty soon, we’ll wish we were.”

Godzilla (1998): “Size Does Matter.”

The Day After Tomorrow (2004): “This year, a sweater won’t do.”

And finally, 2012 (2009): “We Were Warned.”

These taglines sells, people. C’mon, don’t tell me you wouldn’t want to watch the film after reading what’s under the title.

Many websites claim that the world will end in 2012. December 21, 2012, to be exact. This prediction started with Nibiru, a supposed planet discovered by the Sumerians, is headed toward Earth on May 2003. Obviously, nothing happened so they moved the date to December 2012. Predictions are funny that way. When it doesn’t happen on the day that predictors say that it will happen, the rational thing to do is move the date until it actually happens. Call it flexibility.

Scene from the movie 2012. Courtesy of Columbia Pictures.

I do not know if the movie 2012 was inspired by or is loosely based on on this Sumerian prediction. Maybe they would mention it in the film. Nonetheless, people will talk more about doomsday 2012 after seeing 2012 which will just add more “end of the world” nonsense talk. I think NASA Scientists have had enough of this so they put up a FAQ regarding all things 2012. Go read it to be enlightened.