the Last light is the kind of horror movie I love. There is no crazy serial killer offing college students one by one, no absurd chase scenes..justa good old fashioned fight between good and evil. The movie is visually very appealing, the lighting is in point, the music carefully selected to give just the right feeling of menace. The acting is superb. Seriously spot on. The only technical problem I can find is the ambient sounds were a bit to loud making the fact that they were recorded way to obvious. For a low budget film..this movie is very well done.
In it you have six survivors of..something, something none of them can quite remember. They only know that something is outside. Something that will destroy them if given the opportunity. Now the rest of this review will have *spoilers* because this is the kind of movie you can't really review without giving away major plot points.
Ok they are in purgatory, I caught that right away but I can see how some people may never figure it out. Without that knowledge you really can't understand the film. The problem with the characters is none of them (with the exception of one) has really done anything worth going to hell over. Good lord one lady is there because she left home for a job and almost missed her sisters death. The reasons are never quite given for two of the people there. This really bothers me, it's such a well put together film in every other respect, to have not put more thought into character development is just tragic. Also all they have to do is walk into the light to be saved? When they believe monsters are right outside the door? How does that have anything to do with forgiveness? Don't let these two problems stop you from watching this film though the performances the actors give and the great soundtrack and moody lighting make this film well worth the hour and a half run time.
Get hard
This film is not funny, well at least not most of it. That's pretty much all you need to know but if you want to know why it isn't funny here goes: Will Ferrell and Kevin heart have no chemistry. The best parts of the film are when Ferrell is interacting with annone else but heart. I feel like they keep teaming heart up with people in movies hoping that someone will give him that comedic chemistry he needs. Both Kevin and heat need straight men to play off of. Someone to bounce their actions off of. You can't have two larger than life characters on go at the same time. However Ferrell joining the gang and giving them stock market advice was pure gold. My advice is watch once it hits Netflix.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Why Tennesseans love hot food
In case you didn't know Tennesse is the hot chicken capital of the United States. The popularity of it grows each year and new hot chicken spots keep popping up all over Nashville, which is THE PLACE in Tennessee to get your chicken fix...specifically east Nashville. I recently read a very indepth article about the beginning of hot chicken in Nashville. The article did a great job of telling the story of one particular hot chicken joint, seregation in Nashville and what one person thinks is how hot chicken became popular. In the article the author basically surmises that the rich white people in Nashville never heard of hot chicken until the last few years because of segregation. This guy has no clue what he is talking about. You see hot chicken and hot food isn't a black thing. Let me shead some light on this.
First of all I come from a blue collar family. Well red neck is a better term. My grandfather on my mothers side was a farmer...a fix it yourself guy...a real man kinda guy. He comes from the last generation of men who can fix whatever is broken. He is the oldest of ten children I believe. (Give or take) so needless to say there wasn't a lot of extra money floating around.....and how do you think my grandfather likes his food? Let's just say hot is an understatement.
This is a man who I personally witnessed eat hot peppers off of the vine. No water, just to see if they are 'hot enough' yet. Who does that? He collects hot sauces like some people collect baseball cards. He was in the hospital once for a bleeding stomach ulcer, I'm not saying hot sauce put him there...but damn. The fact is you will always find a prevalence of hot sauce/hot foods in poorer communities, world wide. I haven't exactly figured out the correlation but believe me it does exist. I have an idea about why this happens though.
When you are poor, really poor..I don't mean McDonald's poor...I mean beans and rice poor, your food gets really boring. I mean think about eating the same dishes day in and day out. What would be an inexpensive way to add flavor and taste to your otherwise bland food? Hot sauce, pepper, chilies, ect, of course. At some point it becomes a novelty, even to the people who eat it regularly. A badge of courage so to speak. Who can stand the hottest of the hot? This is a thing in poor communities everywhere. It's easy to see how a hot chicken (fried chicken was the first foods to offered in a take me home sort of way, small rural towns often had take home chicken way before burger joints) place
would be popular in the 40's and continue in popularity all the way to today. It's basically a combination of poor people food. Tasty, amazing, poor people food.
Let's now focus on Nashville..the birth place...ok the place where hot chicken became a popular thing. Let's talk about how that happened. First of all Nashville has always been a place full of money...for a small group of people. Seriously at one point in time Nashville was one of the preppiest cities I'd ever seen. Hello vanderbuilt, Belmont and David lipscomb universities. Across town, for years though..there was a group of people who didnt make that kind of cash and they liked their food..suprise, suprise..just as my grandpa likes his...hot. Then about say, ten years ago, before the real estate crash....upper middle class people started moving to the east side...flipping houses and generally turning it into hipster city. ...and where did these hipsters go to eat? The long standing hot chicken joints, which because of the influx of people to the area suddenly were 'discovered' and gained in popularity.
So why does most of Tennessee like hot food....because most of Tennessee is poor. That is the answer. It has nothing to do with segregation..other than the normal segregation of classes that always occurs. People, make that poor people, have been eating hot chicken for a long, long time.
I like how the article I read talks about how the author was from Nashville but had never heard of it and how his friends were now moving to parts of Nashville they wouldn't have stepped foot in years ago, which basically confirms what I just said. Im not sure why it annoys me, but for some reason the east Nashville hipsters do. It's like they are urban explorers discovering things that have been around for decades or their suprise at their 500k 900sqft home next to the projects getting broken into.
No east Nashville hipsters you were not the first people to like hot food, drink pbr, or shop at goodwill...but I'm sure everyone making money off you is happy to let you stay in your delusion.
First of all I come from a blue collar family. Well red neck is a better term. My grandfather on my mothers side was a farmer...a fix it yourself guy...a real man kinda guy. He comes from the last generation of men who can fix whatever is broken. He is the oldest of ten children I believe. (Give or take) so needless to say there wasn't a lot of extra money floating around.....and how do you think my grandfather likes his food? Let's just say hot is an understatement.
This is a man who I personally witnessed eat hot peppers off of the vine. No water, just to see if they are 'hot enough' yet. Who does that? He collects hot sauces like some people collect baseball cards. He was in the hospital once for a bleeding stomach ulcer, I'm not saying hot sauce put him there...but damn. The fact is you will always find a prevalence of hot sauce/hot foods in poorer communities, world wide. I haven't exactly figured out the correlation but believe me it does exist. I have an idea about why this happens though.
When you are poor, really poor..I don't mean McDonald's poor...I mean beans and rice poor, your food gets really boring. I mean think about eating the same dishes day in and day out. What would be an inexpensive way to add flavor and taste to your otherwise bland food? Hot sauce, pepper, chilies, ect, of course. At some point it becomes a novelty, even to the people who eat it regularly. A badge of courage so to speak. Who can stand the hottest of the hot? This is a thing in poor communities everywhere. It's easy to see how a hot chicken (fried chicken was the first foods to offered in a take me home sort of way, small rural towns often had take home chicken way before burger joints) place
would be popular in the 40's and continue in popularity all the way to today. It's basically a combination of poor people food. Tasty, amazing, poor people food.
Let's now focus on Nashville..the birth place...ok the place where hot chicken became a popular thing. Let's talk about how that happened. First of all Nashville has always been a place full of money...for a small group of people. Seriously at one point in time Nashville was one of the preppiest cities I'd ever seen. Hello vanderbuilt, Belmont and David lipscomb universities. Across town, for years though..there was a group of people who didnt make that kind of cash and they liked their food..suprise, suprise..just as my grandpa likes his...hot. Then about say, ten years ago, before the real estate crash....upper middle class people started moving to the east side...flipping houses and generally turning it into hipster city. ...and where did these hipsters go to eat? The long standing hot chicken joints, which because of the influx of people to the area suddenly were 'discovered' and gained in popularity.
So why does most of Tennessee like hot food....because most of Tennessee is poor. That is the answer. It has nothing to do with segregation..other than the normal segregation of classes that always occurs. People, make that poor people, have been eating hot chicken for a long, long time.
I like how the article I read talks about how the author was from Nashville but had never heard of it and how his friends were now moving to parts of Nashville they wouldn't have stepped foot in years ago, which basically confirms what I just said. Im not sure why it annoys me, but for some reason the east Nashville hipsters do. It's like they are urban explorers discovering things that have been around for decades or their suprise at their 500k 900sqft home next to the projects getting broken into.
No east Nashville hipsters you were not the first people to like hot food, drink pbr, or shop at goodwill...but I'm sure everyone making money off you is happy to let you stay in your delusion.
Sunday, July 19, 2015
A weekend of terrible movies. (Joe dirt 2, trainwreck, and it follows)
It's hot outside. Really hot. So hot and humid that I get a headache after then minutes out there.this means my usual weekend experience of an ice cold beer by the pool is out of the question. I've spent the whole weekend watching movies..indoors. This has also been less than satisfactory. Due to multiple requests for reviews, here is my weekend at the movies.
Trainwreck
I'm not sure what I expected but an r rated lifetime movie wasn't it. I've heard people compair this to a typical romantic comedy. Noooo because this movie definitely deals with the Stars personal demons that include drugs, alcohol and sexual deviancy. Not in a funny look at how silly she is way but a, if I don't change my life I'm going to lose my family, friends and career kind of way...maybe even go to jail. This makes the film drag, it's about two hours and twent minutes long. I got bored after an hour and a half. The film makes no sence if you really think it out. Supposedly she is unable to commit because her dad tells her as a child that it's not possible. She then likes a guy and her problem isn't commiting but the fact she feels she doesn't deserve someone good in her life because she has slept around?? Wait..what?
That said John ceda is halarious and so is LeBron James. The hapless guy who plays Amy's love interest is funny and adorable. These guys deliver so real laughs during the film. The movie would have worked much better if her dad hadn't been seen after his brief appearance at the start of the film...and the rest of the movie had focused on Amy's character learning why she needs or wants a relationship..and the nerdy guy winning her over of course. Leave the sappy drama to lifetime please.
Out of five stars I give this one three. It's a funny movie, but it's no match for films like Superbad or Pineapple Express, who have more laughs and less drama.
Joe dirt 2
Dear David Spade,
I am super pissed about Joe dirt 2. You had what like...twenty years to write something and you give me some stupid time traveling, angel, inception bs? I give you NO excuses about a smaller budget because a big budget wasn't necessary. You acted like the first move didn't even happen. I mean Joe went from guest staring on mtv to obscurity again? Not to mention your constant rehashing of the same jokes. Again you had like twenty damn years to write new ones. Whyyyyyy???
Hey I have an idea why doesn't Joe run for the office of mayor of silvertown as the underdog? ...Or what if fame went to his head and brandy left and he had to win her back?? ...Or even if Brandy was pregnant and he gets lost in the tornado and has to make it back before she has the baby? I mean there is like three better ideas...right freaking there!
Guys the idea behind the film is so stupid..it's just hard to even watch the movie and worst of all towards the end it just gets boring. I swear at the end they just started making shit up. I don't even
think there was a script. Now that's fine if you are will Ferrell ....but the chick who plays brandy is no will Ferrell or even a Christina Applegate.
I'll give it this..it does start off with promise. I thought the first half hour was ok for a low budget crackle film. Christopher Walkin is obviously amazing, except when they make him say..get yo momma to sew this like thirty times.
Unfortunately I have to give Joe dirt 2 only two stars. The best I can say for it is...I've seen worse.
Anyway..hey David..lets just pretend this didn't happen.
Sincerely,
Joe Dirt fans
It Follows
Everyone loves this film...everyone. I have had people call me after watching it just to tell me I needed to watch it, so I was super stoked to watch it obviously!
What the hell is everyone talking about? This movie is so slow I could hardly watch. There is almost
no dialogue it. The great shots everyone keeps telling me are so good..are also boring, plain and unimagitave. Did I watch the same film as everyone else? The one good scene is at the very beginning when our lead actress is first cursed. I got excited after that scene...and then nothing. Snooze fest.
All I can say without giving to much away is... typical ending, not much excitement, poor dialogue..bad set, poor lighting..just nothing interesting. The idea behind the film is great..a std that really does follow you home! Yes please! Great idea. I'd like to see this made with an adult cast...better set design...and can we call a damn priest or something? Everyone knows you can't shoot a demon damn it!
I'd give this film a two out of five also. Again, I've seen worse..but this could have been executed way better.
Ok that's it..three crappy movies this weekend. So far this summer I haven't seen anything to get excited about. I'm hoping the new vacation movie will wow me! Fingers crossed!
Trainwreck
I'm not sure what I expected but an r rated lifetime movie wasn't it. I've heard people compair this to a typical romantic comedy. Noooo because this movie definitely deals with the Stars personal demons that include drugs, alcohol and sexual deviancy. Not in a funny look at how silly she is way but a, if I don't change my life I'm going to lose my family, friends and career kind of way...maybe even go to jail. This makes the film drag, it's about two hours and twent minutes long. I got bored after an hour and a half. The film makes no sence if you really think it out. Supposedly she is unable to commit because her dad tells her as a child that it's not possible. She then likes a guy and her problem isn't commiting but the fact she feels she doesn't deserve someone good in her life because she has slept around?? Wait..what?
That said John ceda is halarious and so is LeBron James. The hapless guy who plays Amy's love interest is funny and adorable. These guys deliver so real laughs during the film. The movie would have worked much better if her dad hadn't been seen after his brief appearance at the start of the film...and the rest of the movie had focused on Amy's character learning why she needs or wants a relationship..and the nerdy guy winning her over of course. Leave the sappy drama to lifetime please.
Out of five stars I give this one three. It's a funny movie, but it's no match for films like Superbad or Pineapple Express, who have more laughs and less drama.
Joe dirt 2
Dear David Spade,
I am super pissed about Joe dirt 2. You had what like...twenty years to write something and you give me some stupid time traveling, angel, inception bs? I give you NO excuses about a smaller budget because a big budget wasn't necessary. You acted like the first move didn't even happen. I mean Joe went from guest staring on mtv to obscurity again? Not to mention your constant rehashing of the same jokes. Again you had like twenty damn years to write new ones. Whyyyyyy???
Hey I have an idea why doesn't Joe run for the office of mayor of silvertown as the underdog? ...Or what if fame went to his head and brandy left and he had to win her back?? ...Or even if Brandy was pregnant and he gets lost in the tornado and has to make it back before she has the baby? I mean there is like three better ideas...right freaking there!
Guys the idea behind the film is so stupid..it's just hard to even watch the movie and worst of all towards the end it just gets boring. I swear at the end they just started making shit up. I don't even
think there was a script. Now that's fine if you are will Ferrell ....but the chick who plays brandy is no will Ferrell or even a Christina Applegate.
I'll give it this..it does start off with promise. I thought the first half hour was ok for a low budget crackle film. Christopher Walkin is obviously amazing, except when they make him say..get yo momma to sew this like thirty times.
Unfortunately I have to give Joe dirt 2 only two stars. The best I can say for it is...I've seen worse.
Anyway..hey David..lets just pretend this didn't happen.
Sincerely,
Joe Dirt fans
It Follows
Everyone loves this film...everyone. I have had people call me after watching it just to tell me I needed to watch it, so I was super stoked to watch it obviously!
What the hell is everyone talking about? This movie is so slow I could hardly watch. There is almost
no dialogue it. The great shots everyone keeps telling me are so good..are also boring, plain and unimagitave. Did I watch the same film as everyone else? The one good scene is at the very beginning when our lead actress is first cursed. I got excited after that scene...and then nothing. Snooze fest.
All I can say without giving to much away is... typical ending, not much excitement, poor dialogue..bad set, poor lighting..just nothing interesting. The idea behind the film is great..a std that really does follow you home! Yes please! Great idea. I'd like to see this made with an adult cast...better set design...and can we call a damn priest or something? Everyone knows you can't shoot a demon damn it!
I'd give this film a two out of five also. Again, I've seen worse..but this could have been executed way better.
Ok that's it..three crappy movies this weekend. So far this summer I haven't seen anything to get excited about. I'm hoping the new vacation movie will wow me! Fingers crossed!
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