Gotta Get Back In Time..."Project Almanac"

Project Almanac (2015)

Rated PG-13

Starring Jonny Weston, Sofia Black-D'Elia, Sam Lerner, Allen Evangelista

Directed by Dean Israelite

The Story:

David (Weston) stumbles across a home movie of his 7th birthday party. Much to his surprise he swears he sees himself in a reflection of a mirror.  The reflection is of himself, now, a decade later. How can this be? That's when he discovers that his dad was working on something to do with time travel.  As David and his friends work to perfect the experiment, they set up some rules so that nothing can go wrong. But alas, when love enters the picture, their travels through time may just jeopardize the entire planet!

This is a smart little science fiction thriller that has a lot of fun with the conventions of time travel.

The amazing part, it is shot like a found footage documentary, yet doesn't feel like it, or like it is contrived to shoehorn that aspect of the plot into the movie.

As with all time travel movies, don't think about the plot holes, or it just ruins the whole thing.

Instead, just sit back and enjoy the ride.

That's all.

The less you say about time travel films, the more chance you have to enjoy them without being spoiled.

Final Grade: B

Pretty Cute Flick... "Earth To Echo"

Earth To Echo (2014)

PG

Starring Teo Halm, Astro, Reese Hartwig, Ella Wahlestedt

Directed by Dave Green

The Story:

Some teenagers are facing their last few nights in their homes as they are forced to move due a development tearing up the neighborhood. However, when they receive some encrypted messages on their phones. The kids head out to discover what's behind the message, but they never expected to discover an alien that needs help getting back home.

Yes, it sounds like a mashup of E.T. meets The Goonies.

I think that was intentional on the filmmakers part.

As a child of the 80s, I also have no problem with this decision.

However, the movie does play along the lines of a found footage film, and that's too bad, because those usually stink.

:)

This one has one of the kids that loves to film, so he's following his buddies, as usual, with the camera. Plus they'll all use their cellphones to film the adventures with their alien pal.

That said, as found footage films go, this one is actually pretty good. Not too jittery, not too forced.

You will believe a bunch of preteen/teen kids would/could have this adventure.

Aside from the whole alien thing.

:)

I had a good time though, and quite enjoyed the film.

Final Grade: B

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I enjoyed it and would be willing to watch it again. Not on the must buy list, but maybe someday.

The Party You Always Wanted To Avoid... "Project X"

Project X (2012)

Rated R for language and crudity

Starring Thomas Mann, Oliver Cooper, Johnathan Brown, Dax Flame, Kirby Blanton

Directed by Nima Nourizadeh

The Story:

3 High school students (Mann, Cooper and Brown) are going to throw a birthday party and change their fortunes.  Their other friend (Flame) records the entire proceedings like a documentary.  The party is going to get out of control, and at the end of the night, the boys will indeed be changed forever, and their status of party animals will be the stuff of legend.

Welcome to John Hughes meets Found Footage!

This is the tale of a party that quickly spirals out of control into excessive chaos.

Following the majority of the movie through the lens of their pal, plus newscasts and other phone videos, it's not a badly created found film style movie.

In other words, there's a lot less "shaky cam" than normal, and for that, I was thankful.

The movie has a very slow beginning, but enough glimmer that something fun(ny) could happen, I soldiered on.

There were some rather amusing parts throughout as the party unfolded, but ultimately, I fear that we've forever tipped the balance of a smart comedy, a la John Hughes, to the reality TV generation/found footage "everyone can make a movie" if they have a camera.

A little more skill and substance to the production please, and you could have come up with something to save this tired genre.

Final Grade: C-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Once was more than enough for this one.

Avoid Being Drafted Into "Frankenstein's Army"

Frankenstein's Army (2013)
Rated R for language and violence

Starring Karel Roden, Joshua Sasse, Robert Gwilym, Alexander Mercury, Luke Newberry

Directed by Richard Raaphorst

The Story:

World War II is coming to a close, and a Russian unit pushing through into Germany discovers a secret lab.  Inside, Nazi scientists were experimenting Victor Frankenstein style and combining the bodies of the dead with pieces of machinery to create unstoppable weapons in a last-ditch effort to win the war.  Will the Russians save the day, or is humanity doomed?

Based on the grotesque true story...

No, not really.

Based on someone's pretty crazy imagination though, this film does pretty good for a B movie trying to make a horror/World War II film.

For the most part, they completely succeed.

Shot almost entirely as a handheld documentary/found footage affair, you know you're going to be subjected to shaky camera syndrome and the usual jumps and starts that go with that genre.

It also plays like a hybrid cross between Medal of Honor or Call of Duty in the first person shooter.

Opening doors, diving behind things for cover.

Great work on the monsters.  They seem to be a perfect balance of nightmare yet completely plausible, and that adds to the drama and tension, especially as they close in on the Russians.

This film is currently available to stream on Netflix for those interested.

Final Grade: C

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Once was enough for me.

Happy Halloween? Not With This Yucky Treat... "V/H/S"

Still not scarier than BetaMax!

The Story:

People do stupid things.
And record it.

Thus making their stupidity immortal.

I guess.

18 minutes, and I turned it off.

Bored. Annoyed.
Pick one. 
Find a synonym, pick that.

The characters I was presented with were annoying and I really didn't care one bit about what may or may not happen to them.

I think eventually the guys were going to break into a guy's house to steal another tape to make some quick cash, but again, by that point I had completely lost interest.

Not good for a horror movie.

You've given me:

a) No premise
b) No killer
c) No victim
d) No plot
e) No reason to keep watching

If I want to watch dudes breaking stuff on video, I've got YouTube for that, and those people are better actors and make me at least interested in their story.

I hear that there were several segments, making this an anthology type movie.

Nope, still not interested, and not going to bother fast forwarding to find a chapter I might like.

Amazingly, there was a sequel, so this must have been somewhat successful.

The poster is cool looking, a nice 80s quality to it.

That's why I selected it for the picture to accompany the review.

That's about all I can say nice on the film's behalf.

If the movie was half as good...

Both V/H/S movies are streaming on Netflix if you're up to the challenge.

Final Grade: D-... aw heck, in the spirit of Halloween... F

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Not in a million years...

Sunday's Screamer...I Mean Streamer..."A Haunted House"

Some weird things are going on in this house!

And there's a ghost, too!

The Story:

Malcolm (Marlon Wayans) has his girlfriend Kisha (Essence Atkins) move into his house with him.  Malcolm didn't ask for the demon to come along with her.

Ah yes, a parody of the "found footage" horror movies that are box office hits.

And, they do some of the same stunts, which actually generate some suspense and chills, but they are buried deep and wide amongst the throw it at the wall and see if it sticks comedy.

Now, for those that have seen the Scary Movie franchise, you probably know exactly what kind of comedy you're going to get.

When Marlon Wayans is your most grounded character in the film, you know there's going to be issues. :)

You've got Nick Swardson playing Chip the gay psychic who is infatuated with Malcolm, and is more concerned with getting with Malcolm than getting rid of the demon.

Then you have Cedric the Entertainer at the end of the film as the exorcist.  Small part, but he has a good time with it.

Whether or not they are successful ridding the house of the demon...

Well, I just saw that a sequel is in the works, so that should give you a clue.

Available to stream instantly as of this writing on Netflix.

Final Grade: C

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Nope, I'm good on this one.  There were some amusing gags in the film, but not enough to warrant subsequent viewings.  Yes, I will likely watch the sequel though.  :)