And so does the box office. This review is spoiler-free!
So, after much waiting, and uncertainty of what the Disney purchase of the Star Wars franchise would bring, I have to say I am pleased overall. Now granted, I am not a mega fan. I don’t obsess over every detail and I don’t know every aspect of the Expanded Universe (which has been scrapped by Disney in order to retain canon rights with their revitalization of the franchise) but I have played a lot of Star Wars games (KOTOR, Jedi Outcast series, Rogue Leader), I’ve watched and re-watched all the movies, and I’ve even watched the Clone Wars animated series that was on Cartoon Network. That means I have some vested interest in Star Wars, and I do have some walking around knowledge above the average movie goer.
As a 90’s baby, I grew up in the original Jumanji (1995) craze, a movie which really should not have existed considering the brevity of its source material, a children’s book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg. I absolutely wore out my VHS copy of the film, watching it dozens of times to the point that I can to this day recite the movie largely line by line.
I am personally embarrassed that SquidFlicks has existed for a decade and has never given Guillermo Del Toro’s masterpiece it’s proper due review. That changes now. This is the quintessential primer to understand Del Toro’s fascination and talent at telling the ‘monster’ story through all his cinematic endeavors.
Set during the viciously violent (and often overlooked as a footnote during World War II) Francoist era in the years after the Spanish Civil War (1944), a young girl, Ofelia, along with her mother and unborn baby brother are escorted to a chateau in the dense forest of the Spanish countryside to bunker down with an enclave of fascist forces led by her adopted father, Captain Vidal.
Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) is an MI6 agent tasked with recovering top secret KGB intel in East Berlin before the wall falls in the waning days of the Cold War. Can she navigate the coldest city before the heat gets turned up?
Nolan’s’ latest foray is a non-stop, heart-pounding adaptation of one of the most fraught moments in early World War II – the evacuation of 300,000+ English and French troops from the beaches of Dunkirk, with the Nazi army encroaching on all sides. With this final move, Germany would sweep through the rest of France and essentially hold all of Europe under its iron grip for years. (more…)
I’m going to preface this review by saying that if you only watch one movie this year, make it Baby Driver. Edgar Wright knocked this one out of the park. The chase/escape scenes feel Mad Max-meets-urban center and that’s because Wright asked legendary director George Miller for advice on capturing that stunning aesthetic. Incredible. (more…)
From what has become one of my favorite thriller/horror production companies now, Blumhouse and comic-turned-director Jordan Peele (of Mad TV and Key & Peele fame) comes Get Out – and it’s gaining a lot of attention because of how damn creepy it is. In my book, it’s an instant classic.
Nuclear Neighbourhood is a Independent feature horror comedy film written & directed by Matt J Oliver. Produced by Megan Schultz & Matthew J Oliver from Oliverschultz Film ltd.
Nuclear Neighbourhood surrounds three teenagers. Lizzy, a female punk rocker, Dan a regular ordinary guy and Eugene a typical nerd. Together they live in a small suburban neighbourhood in the fictional town of West Lark. There’s a strange mysterious large house in the neighbourhood that everyone is curious about, for good reason… Weird flashes of light appear in the sky over the house at night on a regular basis. People are disappearing from the neighbourhood at an alarming rate. One night Dan’s girlfriend Sandra is kidnapped in a van. The three friends soon discover that Sandra must have been taken to the strange house and now they must break in to rescue their friend. What awaits them inside the house is a labyrinth of toxic traps and something even deadlier is happening in the basement. Will they survive? Or will it be a Nuclear Nightmare..?
Trailer
The Video Review
httpv://youtu.be/UoVkEypM-VE
The Written Review
First of all, I would like to extend my apologies to Matt for the tremendous delay. He sent us this film before they released it in Summer 2014 and we managed to drop the ball pretty hard. Fortunately, Matt is a real cool guy and reminded us to finish the work – which we did! As a small consolation for the lateness of this review, I decided to also give it the video review treatment!
Now, on to the review. I’m not real sure where to start with NN – it’s definitely a campy movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but there are some serious moments. Things start off quickly with scenes of an eerie mansion and a shady van patrolling the ‘hood, undoubtedly up to no good. Of course, there’s a quick kidnapping by a creep and soon the friends of the misplaced step up to solve the crime.
Upon entering the house, the group encounters a menagerie of bizarre situations and characters, ranging from silent knife wielding wackos to resident mutant rocker Bud. The group manages to stumble across the way to access the obligatory basement laboratory, and have a chance to rescue the damsel and end the horror show that is plaguing the neighborhood!
There were some great camera angles, characters, and lines. We really thought the CGI was impressive (if a little cheesy, but hey, you actually did some post work). The music added a TON to the atmosphere as well. There are some minor issues with pacing and plot development, but if anything it adds to the campy and grungy feel of the flick. I got the same vibe I got from other great B-movie fare like The Toxic Avenger and other Troma masterpieces.
Overall, we found NN to be an enjoyable movie, especially if you are a fan of B-movies and campy horror. It was a worthy candidate for our first *International* independent film submission! I would like to extend kudos to Matt for incorporating CG effects into the film – something that I have yet to attempt. Meeting Bud was a trip and I think that he’s definitely got a future in the series. This definitely should be a series. I’m thinking about a 4-5 film story arc with promotional tie-ins.
3/5 Reels Squid Rating This movie emits a warm and enjoyable radiation!
The early 1980s were filled with fantastic futuristic sci-fi films. Terminator & Blade Runner set the tone for many many films but Empire Pictures took the best of both worlds and combined them in the 1984 release of “Trancers.” To celebrate the 30th anniversary of this sci-fi cult classic, Full Moon released the definitive edition of “Trancers” on Blu-Ray. (more…)
Did you ever participate in a spelling bee? For most kids, it’s a good but annoying excuse to get out of class for the afternoon. Nobody really wants to win, because that means you have to compete again on a higher level. In the case of Bad Words, Guy Trilby (Jason Bateman) is making his journey to the Golden Quill National Spelling Bee personal. He is 40 years old and technically eligible for the bee because he has never passed the 8th grade. His take no prisoners attitude (plus the fact that he is a 40-year-old man competing against preteens) grates parents and competition officials alike. His media sponsor and online reporter Jenny Widgeon (Katherine Hahn) tries to figure out what his angle is for her big story, but by the time she figures out the reason for Guy’s vendetta, it’s too far to turn back.
