I scream, u scream, we all SCREAM 4 ...

The 4th installment of the Scream franchise which only took 11 years since the last one to come out. Scream 4 finds Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott returning to her hometown to promote a book she'd written about her experiences, only to face some new copycat killers putting on the Ghostface mask, and making unnerving phone calls to would-be, slash-potential victims.

Is Scream supposed to be "scary" at this point? I'm gonna say - No. Scream has always been a semi-comedic homage to slasher movie/horror films. Penned by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven, both masters at what they do best, the original gave an intelligent wink and smile to the genre, while offering unexpected shocks and genuinely scary elements at the same time.

Of course what everyone remembers is the twist at the end of the 1st film with Billy and Stu being revealed as the killers. Unfortunately, however, 3 sequels later, that's all that remains. Waiting for the big "whodunit" reveal at the end, all the while ignoring the fake-outs of the movie making u SUSPECT who it might be ... tripping and yawning it's way through a bare semblance of a plot.

Character development is all but out the window as we just watch the body count rise and (I guess) we're left to appreciate the "new" and "inventive" ways the teenagers get chopped up. Scream 4 still has the "self-referentialism" (not a real word) and "socio-pop culture examination" (not a real term) as its predecessors, but it all feels tacked on and a bit hollow.

It's got the obligatory jam packed cast of young hollywood, but it also cradles the unnecessary: Anthony Anderson as a cop? Does he REALLY need to still be playing these roles at this point in his career? Adam Brody as another cop? Does anyone even remember who that IS anymore??

the rating system:

Loved it - one of the best movies I've seen in a long time and worth every cent of the ticket price. I can't state enough how much u need to go see this movie ...

Liked it - it was an enjoyable flick for the most part and I'm glad I watched it. Will I run out to buy it when released on video? ... Probably not.

Leave it - ranging from the truly forgettable to the "wait a minute ... that didn't make any sense" in the 1st 5 minutes after I leave the theater. Basically - a whole lotta nothin.

Loathed it - a movie that literally makes me ANGRY after I exit and for days and weeks after. Angry that I wasted my time and money, and angry that such a piece of shit was ever made and that people actually received payment to do so.

the verdict:

Leave it. The only good in Scream 4 was Hayden Panettiere who's terrific in her role, cute as hell, and finally succeeding in again making me a fan. Rory (better than Macaulay but not as good as Kieran) Culkin was very good as well, but the original cast of Campbell, David Arquette, and Courtney Cox Arquette just seemed bored, while new star Emma Roberts and cameoers like Shenae Grimes, Kristen Bell, and Anna Paquin were just as useless as they are in everything ELSE they do.

The movie suffered from going back in the same well way too often and not pulling up anything new ... even though it seemed to think that it did.

The Dark Side of Disney ...

Apparently Disney theme parks have Jedi Training Academies for Force wielding youngsters who want to join the fight against the Galactic Empire! An enjoyable production that even allows the kids to face off against the evil Sith lord, Darth Vader, himself! Formulaic fantasy fun ... until little Sariah Gallego decides to REWRITE the script and walk a ... DIFFERENT path ...

I LOVE this! It's nice to see young people not be so pre-programmed, defying convention, and going against the grain. And who WOULDN'T want to join the Dark Side? Cooler lightsabers, mentally choking people that disagree with you ... the Sith have it all!

Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis) said it best in Spaceballs - "... now you see that evil will always triumph, because good is dumb." 


Good times!

Attacking Super 8 ...

When I first saw the teaser trailer for Super 8 (one of the big summer films of 2011), I was admittedly excited. J.J. Abrams as director. Steven Spielberg as producer. It looked like creepy goodness. But then it turned into "the more I see, the less I like". Enter the FULL trailer.

Vomit. And each time I watch it, I become more and more skeptical. You gotta love mini-Dakota Fanning (Elle Fanning) in this, and Spielberg lets you down even less than I do. But ... It looks like way too much of that "kids smarter than the grownups" faire, which wouldn't be so bad if Super 8 didn't appear to take itself way too seriously. I'm guessing it was pitched as "Cloverfield meets Goonies", minus the campy or 80's fun polish.

However, all is not lost. Behold - Attack The Block, a similar themed London based film about kids (teens) going toe-to-toe with alien invaders. It stars Nick Frost, whom you probably know from Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, etc., which gives it tons of points already, and it just looks SO much better than Super 8.

Here's the trailer.

Which do YOU think looks better?

Hell, I'll prob see both, but I already know which I have more faith in right now ...

I've Got this movie's Number ...

It came out weeks ago and made relatively no noise, but it looked fair enough at the time ... So a last minute audible was called and we decided to check out I Am Number Four.

The plot's simple enough. Super powered teen alien survivors of an all but extinct race, having taken refuge on Earth, are being hunted and killed off in numerical order by ANOTHER group of less-teen and more-ugly aliens. The main hero is Number 4, played by Alex Pettyfer. Sound a bit cheesy? It is.

Nonetheless, I was pleasantly surprised with I Am Number Four. You see the trailer and you think you know what it's going to be, but it turns out to be a bit more. Thankfully, it was only produced by Michael Bay and not directed by, so all the props go to actual director D.J. Caruso, who also did Eagle Eye. He let this teen drama/ sci-fi action flick unfold at its own pace, so although you get the usual elements - "the new kid in school", "the sexy love interest", "the geek needing a best friend", "the bully football player" ... We really got to know each character and appreciate their motivations, which in turn helped us cheer for them when the confrontations finally started. There's even some nice scenes of the evil alien hunters doing normal stuff like grocery shopping which are pretty memorable.

The movie does suffer from having almost TOO much story that it wants to tell. There are a lot of mini mysteries floating around way too long, like with the dog, where by the time it's revealed, we've already figured it out, and don't care as much. Plus, we get so much of some characters, like the the love interest Sarah, played terrifically by Dianna Agron, that we don't get enough of some of the sci-fi people we want more of, like Timothy Olyphant's Henri or Teresa Palmer's Number 6.

When all is said and done? I Liked it. Nice teen angst stuff without becoming too sickening. Likable, well layered characters with solid smarts, even the minor ones. Plus some fun action battles. It's worth checking out if you can find a theater still showing it.

In theaters this Summer? ... I Hope?!?

Finally! The trailer for the sequel that was just screaming to be made ...

When Harry Met Sally 2!

... along with some behind the scenes footage of the think tanking that assembled it ... Enjoy!

      When Harry Met Sally 2 with Billy Crystal & Helen Mirren from Billy Crystal

God, I love Helen Mirren! I'd be a vampire with HER for all eternity! ... Oh, wait. No I wouldn't. ... Or WOULD I?!? ... Stay tuned to find out!

American IDLE ...

The ratings may say otherwise, but I find it hard to believe that people are still watching American Idol. I mean, sure. It's not the ratings juggernaut it once was, but it's still, after all these years, the biggest thing on Fox and on MOST networks, enough so much that Fox still devotes like what? HALF of it's prime lineup to either air or promote it?

(Look! There's Christian Slater!)

Whatevz. I peeked in again to see how things were shaping up this year, and ... bleh. Lame. Despite the initial interest to see what the new judges, Steven Tyler and J. Lo, brought to the table, the show hasn't really done anything to encourage folks to stick with it.

And how ARE the judges? Randy Jackson is as good as he always was. Now, the captain of the ship, he continues to be the only one you can count on to say anything worthwhile. Steven and Jennifer are pretty much the 2 halves of Paula Abdul. Nothing constructive. Rainbows and Sunshine. Everyone is a star. Ya know - useless.

(Ryan Seacrest and new "David Archuletta clone" - Stefano Langone)

Well the show is about the CONTESTANTS, right? Uhm ... wrong. It would be NICE if it were, but this year just has a boring crop of uninspired nobodies. Casey Abrams is like a hillbilly or something. Pia Toscano looks like she could be a Kardashian sister. Pretty, but is so uninteresting, you just want to cry. The only partially memorable newcomer is country kid, Scotty McCreery (who WILL be referred to as "Scotty McCREEPY" in no time, just you wait!), who's like a weird mix of The Miz and Taylor Hicks.

Without real buzzworthy and exciting contestants, what's the point? The show seems so far gone from the Adam Lamberts, Katherine McPhees, and, dare I say it? - The Diana Degarmos. Sure, these guys were all only runner-ups in the end, but you gave a damn about the journey they took, the competitors they outlasted, and finally the eventual champions that ousted THEM in the finals. I'm once again giving up on Idol. Here's to hoping that The X Factor brings it come Fall!

'Punch ain't for Suckers!

Good ol' Emily Browning. I was probably one of the more thrilled people out there when it was announced that she'd replaced Amanda Seyfried in Zack Snyder's new big action film, Sucker Punch. Browning plays a tragic, family shattered youth in pretty much every film she's in, (Lemony Snicket, The Uninvited, etc.) so she could do the lead role of Baby Doll in her sleep if she had to, right?

Right. Although I can't say she MADE the film, as Sucker Punch was a movie sorta wrapped up in itself. It's about a girl's desperate fight for freedom, played out in a type of fantasy. I don't want to give TOO much away, but there are many things going on at the same time, and its important to recognize what parts are (albeit drawn out) only symbolism and metaphor, or you might be left scratching your head like - "huh?"

Nobody does vivid, ultra fighting, samurai slashing, robot stomping and monster chomping gun play visuals better than Zack Snyder. After 300, The Watchmen, and the very credible remake of Dawn of the Dead, he's more than proven what he's capable of and in Sucker Punch, he's just kinda showing off. It's all enjoyable stuff and obviously what is meant to draw you into the theater, but it's the "real world" moments of the movie that are the most compelling, thanks in a large part to the superb villainy of Blue Jones, played by Oscar Isaac.

You could sense they cut and trimmed a lot to get it down to a "lean" hour & 50 minute running time. Unfortunately, we then don't get as much from Jamie Chung's Amber or Vanessa Hudgens's Blondie as we could have, to make us care about them more, but it does allow the movie to progress SAFELY before reaching the point of redundant.

Ok,  do you remember the rating system? If not, here it is again:

Loved it - one of the best movies I've seen in a long time and worth every cent of the ticket price. I can't state enough how much u need to go see this movie ...

Liked it - it was an enjoyable flick for the most part and I'm glad I watched it. Will I run out to buy it when released on video? ... Probably not.

Leave it - ranging from the truly forgettable to the "wait a minute ... that didn't make any sense" in the 1st 5 minutes after I leave the theater. Basically - a whole lotta nothin.

Loathed it - a movie that literally makes me ANGRY after I exit and for days and weeks after. Angry that I wasted my time and money, and angry that such a piece of shit was ever made and that people actually received payment to do so.

So what's the verdict on Sucker Punch?

I Liked it. It's a fun watch all the way through with good performances by Browning, Carla Cugino as the chief therapist/dance instructor, and Isaac.

A lot of awesome mindless action yet with still a decent portion of mind tucked in to make you care about what happens next. All that plus you won't be able to guess how it ends ... or CAN you??? (no, you can't)