Category Archives: Movies & TV

[Movie Review] Survival of the Dead (2010)

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George A. Romero is and will always be the Godfather of the Dead. He basically single handedly invented and popularized the modern zombie through films like Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead, and while there have been countless takes on the zombie genre ever since Romero found massive success, no one has even come close to creating a film as entertaining or memorable as Romero’s earlier works.

Time and time again Romero has proven himself the king of the zombie film, constantly providing undead lovers like myself with the most entertaining, gory and thought-provoking zombie movies there are. In 2009, he released Diary of the Dead, a film that was definitely my least favorite of Romero’s works. It was a good film, but sadly it strayed too far from what made his earlier works, including 2005’s Land of the Dead, so fantastic. It was like when a band comes out with an “experimental” album. So when I saw early trailers for Survival, boasting a glorious return to form for the visionary director, I got very excited.

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[Movie Review] Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)

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This is the movie Kick-Ass wanted to be.

While that film occasionally sought too hard at times to blend action and comedy in a stylistically violent environment, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World does it so effortlessly that the entire film ends up playing like an erratic sugar high of pure, raw adrenaline.

Scott Pilgrim is played by Michael Cera, who once again shows little range but does his schtick better than anyone else. Scott’s in a band, has a young girlfriend, but becomes infatuated with a girl he keeps seeing in his dreams. When she happens to drop by to deliver him a package, Scott can no longer contain himself. The two end up having quite the spark, but there is one catch: Scott must square off with her seven evil exes.

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At The Movies Retrospective Pt. 4: Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert

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We’ve come to the end of my four-part At The Movies recap, which tragically marks the end of Everyview editor-in-chief and highly decorated Vietnam Conflict veteran Zac Pritcher’s bitter and sarcasm-laced plugs on Facebook. You’re the one who made me keep going, dickhole!

But anyway, this capper is dedicated to two individuals who are actually very worthy of being written about, as they were responsible for bringing movie criticism into mainstream America, and had a major role in helping expand the reach of art house cinema.

They were Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, perhaps the two most important media critics of all-time. Continue reading →

At The Movies Retrospective Part 3: Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper

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We’ve now entered the second half of this cockamamie retrospective idea, and I’m pretty sure by the end I will have close to 50 accumulative hits! I would just stop altogether, but for my loyal readers I persevere. After all, we here at Everyview only give up on good ideas.

So here’s my take on Ebert and Roeper.

After original co-host and balcony mainstay Gene Siskel died of a brain tumor in early 1999, there was speculation the show, better known to the public as Siskel and Ebert, would be unable to continue with one-half of the duo deceased.

However, Ebert quickly let it be known he fully intended to keep the series running, continuing it for well over a year-and-a-half with 26 different guest critics.

Then in September 2000, it was announced Chicago Sun Times columnist Richard Roeper would accept nearly impossible task of sitting across the aisle and debating movies with Roger Ebert week after week. But while replacing Siskel wasn’t something he could have ever done, it’s hard to look back on the tenure of Roeper as anything but admirable.

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At The Movies Retrospective Pt. 2: Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott

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One part in and this four-part series has already proven to be a humiliating failure. Oh, well, it’s not like I have anything better to do. After all, you can only watch so many old episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond before you’ve seen them all, and have to say enough, it’s time to do something productive.

So here’s my opinion on Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott.

For their first few weeks on the air, Phillips and Scott (film critics for the Chicago Tribune and New York Times, respectively), were a breath of fresh air. Not that it was difficult outperforming their predecessors, but actually having two legit(imate) critics on the air was a nice change after the year-long piece of wet diarrhea stank produced by the Lyons/Mankiewicz combo.

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[Movie Review] The Other Guys (2010)

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The Other Guys is the proverbial mixed bag. The movie is never tremendously funny, but it is at the very least an enjoyable action comedy. The crime subplot is extremely convoluted, almost garishly reexplained over and over to little result, but the performances of the two leads carry the film to moderate success overall.

Ferrell plays Allen, a straight laced desk cop. Wahlberg is Terry, the rogue bad ass. Together they form the mismatched NYPD detective team at the heart of our story. Ferrell and Wahlberg have an unmistakeable chemistry that, at times, provides some laughs. Their characters are well developed, engaging, and they have some pretty fun interaction that carries most of the movie.

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At The Movies Retrospective Pt. 1: Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz

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By September 2008, all shreds of At The Moviesas it once was were gone. Gene Siskel was long dead, Roger Ebert had lost the ability to speak due to a bout with thyroid cancer and Richard Roeper, who replaced Siskel following his death, left the balcony after eight years due to failed contract negotiations.

Even the show’s most notable trademark, the “Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down” grade were gone (Ebert retained the rights which he kept for himself), replaced with the far less memorable “See It,” “Rent It” and “Skip It.”

Hoping to “take the program in a new direction,” producers appointed E! Online columnist Ben Lyons and Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz as the new co-hosts. And while this lineup wasn’t the last ATM would produce, the abysmal program they created was undeniably the biggest deathblow planted on the once great show.

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At The Movies Retrospective

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After 24 years on syndicated television, At The Movies, the landmark film criticism show will air its final episode this week. Better known to many for its runs as Siskel and Ebert and Ebert and Roeper, the show accomplished a rare feat in its prime, in that it made middle America at least somewhat interested in what stuffy, pretentious film critics had to say.

In its time, the show went through four major hosting formats (aside from those listed above, the show also featured hosting duos Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz, and Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott). To pay homage, I will run a four-part series ranking my favorite ATM duos from worst to best starting tomorrow.

I don’t assume many of our readers will have a great deal of interest in this series, but as a long-time fan of the show (as well as a pretentious asshole in love with his own opinions) I feel compelled to recap the program which I’ve watched since I was a kid. Also, now that this is a salaried gig ($3/post), I’d be a fool not to stockpile content.

[TV News] Courage the Cowardly Dog Finally on DVD!

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As part of Cartoon Network’s new “Hall of Fame” promotion, a program that gives the most acclaimed and loved shows from the network’s past new life in the form of DVD box sets. Johnny Bravo and Dexter’s Lab have already been immortalized in DVD form, but there are several other shows that need to get the box set treatment.

Johnny Quest, Ed, Edd, n’ Eddy, Two Stupid Dogs and many other awesome cartoon series from when I was a kid are likely inevitable to get their shot at a box set, so if you were a Cartoon Network kid like me, bet sure to keep an eye out for more shows in the Hall of Fame series.

If you were a Nickelodeon kid (also like me… I watched a lot of cartoons), the just get on Netflix and instant stream some of your favorites.

Buy Courage the Cowardly Dog: Season One on DVD from Amazon.

[Film Review] Seven Pounds (2008)

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Even movie aficionados (or douchey guys who review movies gratis on a moderate traffic website) can have movies slip through the cracks. It’s simply too difficult to see every movie, not only because you have to pay, but because it’s incredibly time consuming. Some people have to have what’s known as a day job to pay the bills.

Seven Pounds is just such a movie. It has just the look of a film I would expect to at the very least not hate, but it’s bad. It’s really, really bad. Released in the holiday season of 2008, the film centers around the life of Ben Thomas, an IRS agent that holds within him a deep secret. He seems to be going around the random folks with a desire to help them. His exact motives aren’t exactly known until the end of the film, and the journey is pretty morose and mundane. There are going to be spoilers in this review, because it’s been out 18 months and I really want to discuss the flaws which may involve discussing the plot semi in-depth. And if you haven’t seen it by now, your interest is probably fleeting, and I’m going to save you two disappointing hours.

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