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Parody Movies: Too much of a good thing?

Airplane!

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When people ask me what kind of movies I like I always tell them horror and heist movies. The reason I don’t include comedies is the fact we all like comedies because laughter is a universal enjoyment. The types of comedies we like may be different but lucky for us, the comedy genre is pretty diverse. Each genre of movies has a decent selection of sub-genres. For instance horror has exorcism movies, zombie movies, vampire movies, creature features, slashers, gore, hauntings, etc. You can love a few and hate the rest and still be a horror fan.

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Movies from Video Games: The mistake that keeps happening.

Movie producers sometimes get wild hares to take something simple that works and turn it into something terrible.  Video games are fun, and so are movies but the two coming together usually results in disaster.  Movies that are about video games are usually pretty good, but if it’s based on a video game its almost doomed to suck.  They see something with a following, something with fans that will pay to see the movie no matter what it looks like because they like the game.  And they take that trust and poop on it! Continue reading “Movies from Video Games: The mistake that keeps happening.” »

Movies with a Following: A Look at Cult and Camp Classics

First things first what is a cult film exactly?  A cult film also known as a ‘cult classic’ is a film with a highly devoted and sometimes obsessive fanbase. Often cult films don’t do well at the box office and fail to achieve popularity outside of small fanbases. Some of these films over time will grow to be considered true classics while others are simply doomed to be obscure.   Continue reading “Movies with a Following: A Look at Cult and Camp Classics” »

Movie Remakes: The dark ages of cinema

Most of the movies we see today are remakes from old movies.  A lot of those movies weren’t what you’d call popular so a lot of the movies may not seem like remakes.  I truly consider this time era of movies to be the dark ages because of Hollywood’s lack of imagination.  The technical advances are epic and the acting quality is MUCH better but an original movie these days is rare at best.

I have to admit I usually like the remakes better than the originals in some cases.  Some people are so nostalgic about movies it’s unreal, they’ll whine and complain about the original being so much better and how they’re ruining a classic.  I’m not that guy, that’s not my gripe at all. My gripe is the lack of vision and originality.  It’s simpler to remake something to make it better than it is to write an original script and run with it.

Let’s have a look at some of the fairly recent remakes.

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IMAX: What is it and why do I have to pay more for it?

IMAX started off doing short documentary type films.  I remember going to the Zoo here in Kansas City on a field trip from school and watching an IMAX video about something educational.  The screen was enormous, I remember watching the screen and it took up my whole field of vision, I remember seeing advertising billboards along side the highway plugging IMAX by saying “this billboard is 1/16th actual size”. Continue reading “IMAX: What is it and why do I have to pay more for it?” »

Connecting the Dots: Modern movies run off old ideas

With as many movies as there are in circulation, it’s hard to make a movie that doesn’t play off a movie that’s already been done.  A revamped idea isn’t necessarily a bad thing and shouldn’t be considered a remake by any means, but a truly original idea for a film is something to be admired.  Recently I went and saw ‘Inception’ (2010) and really admired how it kind of stood on its own two feet so to speak.  There wasn’t really anything else like it, although people seem to want to put it in the same category as ‘The Matrix’ which I don’t really get, but I digress.

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The Zombie Movie: My guilty pleasure.

The zombie has transformed over the years.  In early cinema the zombie wasn’t really a flesh eater, but more of a catatonic slave controlled by a powerful lord.  Old movies like ‘White Zombie’ staring Bela Lugosi were usually set in Haiti because the culture there believes in these types of zombies.  The Haitian zombie isn’t really my particular flavor, even if it does have a legend like Bela Lugosi in it. Continue reading “The Zombie Movie: My guilty pleasure.” »

Movies on TV: When the dialog becomes a game of Madlibs for government censors

After a film is made it’s submitted for rating by the MPAA, it gets its rating and we all live happily ever after, right?  Wrong.   Movies that have been rated R and even NC-17 have been shown on television because of one thing I simply don’t believe in; Censorship.

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Then and Now: A Look At The Movie Rating System

Before the film rating system of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) there was the censorship guidelines set in place by the Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors Association (MPPDA).  Those guidelines are referred to as the ‘Hays Code’ because the creator was named Will H. Hays.  The Hays Code (used from 1930-1968) functioned on 3 general principles:

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