While walking out of The American, a fellow critic pointed out something that couldn’t be close to the truth: this is the anti-Bond film. With the Bond movies, the audience is filled with envy. You wanna be that man. Here, it’s difficult to imagine anyone wanting to be George Clooney’s unnamed assassin. Read the full story

Not too long ago we reported on a few actors rumored for the much needed Fantastic Four reboot, and now we finally got a list of directors who could be bringing us the infamous team back on the big screen. And the great news is: these aren’t names like Tim Story. While this should be regarded as pure rumor right now, it’s hard not to get excited by the names Comic Book Movie are reporting. The suspects: David Yates, James McTeigue, and smokin’ Joe Carnahan.

Many have lamented this summer movie season as lackluster, but it hasn’t been. Things did get off to a bit of a rough start, but we ended up receiving a handful of worthwhile blockbusters and plenty of excellent indies. And most importantly, we got plenty of characters that will be remembered as above-the-cuff badasses. Read the full story

If the title Piranha 3D makes you think of descriptives like stupid or awful, and it just doesn’t interest you at all, then this isn’t the film for you. But if you’re one of the sane people out there and can appreciate a horror comedy done well, then you’ll enjoy Alexandre Aja‘s latest as the unapologetic, blood drenched, and nudity filled film that it is. It knows exactly what it is, and it embraces the ridiculousness.

Aja is a man of good taste when it comes to the gratuitous side of things. He knows how to make a well crafted B-movie; aside from Mirrors. While this is a ridiculous spectacle Aja doesn’t go all towards camp. Nearly everything – including most of the performances – are played with a straight face. Nobody acts unbelievably goofy. Even Jerry O’Connell manages to create a real character. All of these characters feel real, which makes the tonal outlandishness of it all even more believable. It would be asinine to say this takes itself seriously. It doesn’t. This is one hundred percent self-aware of what it is and what it’s trying to be.

There’s no real need to describe the plot in an in-depth fashion. One can practically figure it out from the poster: it’s piranhas attacking during beach season. The film mostly focuses on the least interesting of the group being attacked: Jake Forester (Steven R. McQueen). Jake is a mostly whiny character and one you don’t particularly care for, or like. It’s not Forester’s fault, but when you’re surrounded by Elisabeth Shue‘s macho town sheriff, Adam Scott‘s surprisingly heroic outsider, and of course Jerry O’Connell’s great Girls Gone Wild-esque show host, you’re just not going to come out being the standout. Even some of the smaller characters, like Eli Roth‘s wet t-shirt contest meat-head, are a lot more fun to watch. And let’s not forget two fantastic appearances by Christopher Lloyd and Richard Dreyfuss, the former being a perfect deliverer of hammy exposition on paper and the latter being a simple fantastic nod to Jaws; obviously being the main inspiration for the film.

Fun is what Aja gets. His previous films we’re more horrific than fun and here he’s changing things up. Aja keeps the story moving briskly with practically no dull spots to speak of. Early on he gives you exactly what you want — mayhem. While this does slightly affect the narrative quite a bit, feeling slightly choppy, it’s tough to say it’s not fast paced. The only arena where Aja really drops the ball is when it comes to the 3D itself. The dimness doesn’t take away from the poppy look of the film, but the 3D doesn’t add as much to the experience as it should. It’s not the all-out gimmicky effect you expect and want. Surprisingly, this would probably work better in 2D.

Even when Piranha 3D looks cheap you still cant help but to find it charming. A few sequences don’t look as sharp as others, and yet those moments still manage to entertain. This is Alexandre Aja’s blood spattered extravaganza.

7.5 out of 10

What did you think of Piranha 3D?

Neil Marshall delivers the goods when it comes to creating solid B-movie schlock. With Dog Soldiers and The Descent he showed great promise in the horror world. With Doomsday and now Centurion, Marshall shows he also has a steady hand when it comes to delivering on the action. Both films couldn’t be more similar. They each focus on a chase, have over-the-top kills, a solid lead, all while happening to be a mess. Read the full story

On paper, The Expendables sounds like heaven. All the B-action stars we (mostly) love, directed by Sylvester Stallone in a non-stop action film sounds like the best time one could have at a theater. When the film kicks off Stallone seemed to have delivered what he promised and intended, but soon it’s apparent that’s not the case. There are hints in the opening that this isn’t the ultimate 80′s callback we were expecting, with CG blood, CG lasers, and the CG in general, but it was still promising. After the quick and impressive intro, it loses steam quickly. Read the full story

Adam McKay has been delivering some of the most clever comedies in recent years and the ingeniously funny The Other Guys is no exception. McKay and company walk a fine line and succeed in not making an absolute parody of the Buddy Cop genre. Read the full story

I’m glad Repo Men is now available on Blu-ray. For one, it’ll surely be discovered and embraced by many who didn’t catch it in theaters. It’s a solid sci-fi satire that almost any hardcore genre fan should enjoy. It’s a lot of fun, has a slick style to it and has a narcissist at the center of it. It’s not too often we see a protagonist of not the most likable nature. It’s a film that doesn’t pull its punches; especially when it comes to the bloody side of things. Read the full story

This year was my first time attending the infamous Comic-Con and it couldn’t be closer to being a wonderful experience. It’s a nerd’s heaven. You’re surrounded by people as passionate or even more-so around the things you love. While the best part for me was meeting people whose writing I’ve followed for quite sometime now, it was also a nice kicker to learn a bit more about some of the upcoming films that were showcased there. Even though I saw pretty much no footage – excluding Thor – the word-of-mouth travels at light-speed that it’s almost as if you don’t even need to be there. Also, thanks to some shoddy flip-cam work it’s pretty simple to find the Q an A’s from the panels online to learn more about some of these upcoming films. Read the full story

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is brilliant. Hilarious. A spectacle. Edgar Wright has crafted a film that can best be described as an ice cream sundae. It has all your favorite flavors. It has everything that any movie nerd or comic book nerd will bask in. Read the full story