No, I wasn't on vacation. (I wish!)
However, the last couple of weeks with this site might have made it seem that way. I haven't been away but yet, I haven't been extremely available. Life always makes an interlude and sometimes, it's right to take some time off.
I prefer these last couple of days/weeks as taking a "breather." It was the perfect time to enjoy life and become inspired again with writing and to relax. Now that half of September is over, I'm ready to jump back in with new posts and features for Fall.
Stay tuned for upcoming articles, lists and reviews around the corner!
Hey Bloggers,
I’m back for another review and you’ll never believe which film I’ve chosen to watch. In my defense – it was a free movie ticket and all my friends really wanted to check it out. If you want to make jokes, I totally expect them. Originally, I planned to write this as a full review since I watched this film a day after it came out but it deserves a mini review. The film review is the 3D aquatic teen horror flick: Shark Night 3D!
The Premise: Seven undergraduates spend some quality time at a lakeside island for rest and relaxation, but the situation quickly turns deadly when a pack of vicious sharks start attacking the frightened college students. Not since the days of Jaws does one movie contain an array of shark cast members in the monstrous villain role. Rounding out the cast is the terrified potential victims: Sara (Sara Paxton) , the cute and shy ingénue whom owns the summer home on the island, Nick (Dustin Milligan), the quirky male lead with an attraction for Sara, Beth (Katharine McPhee), the rebellious wild child, and Blake (Chris Zylka), the exhibitionist college party boy, to name a few.
The Results: 0.5/5!
This is the lowest score I have ever given for a review. I knew going into the movie that it wasn’t going to be academy-worthy material but even I was blown away. When you’re dealing with sharks in the water, the simplest common sense would be to not go back into the water. I guess that wasn’t enough as the kids just kept jumping back in. The characters had no depth, the plot was nonsensical (seriously, online videos?!), the suspense was paltry and the 3D effect had no increased value to the film. Once the setting became nighttime, at times it was too dark to see anything which made all that horror and 3D effects pointless. I’ll be the first to admit that I justify and sometimes give the positive benefits of a lackluster film but even I felt disappointed. My recommendation would be to skip the movie and wait till it airs on syndication. Try watching it back-to-back with Jaws then Shark Night 3D – you may be surprised about how you feel afterwards.
This is the lowest score I have ever given for a review. I knew going into the movie that it wasn’t going to be academy-worthy material but even I was blown away. When you’re dealing with sharks in the water, the simplest common sense would be to not go back into the water. I guess that wasn’t enough as the kids just kept jumping back in. The characters had no depth, the plot was nonsensical (seriously, online videos?!), the suspense was paltry and the 3D effect had no increased value to the film. Once the setting became nighttime, at times it was too dark to see anything which made all that horror and 3D effects pointless. I’ll be the first to admit that I justify and sometimes give the positive benefits of a lackluster film but even I felt disappointed. My recommendation would be to skip the movie and wait till it airs on syndication. Try watching it back-to-back with Jaws then Shark Night 3D – you may be surprised about how you feel afterwards.
It's finally Tuesday and after a long awaited break, it's time to debut the next post for Tuesday Tunes. For those of you unfamiliar with this feature, on Tuesdays, I highlight three videos I find online. These videos feature music as part of a video, performance or portrayed as the underlining theme. In the previous installments, I've picked a selection of videos ranging from parodies to music videos. Remember: if you have any suggestions for the following Tuesday Tunes, then please let me know - I love your suggestions and comments!
The three videos that I've chosen to highlight this week are:
1. "Natural" by S Club 7
2. "I'm An Angry Bird" by The Key of Awesome (Parody of Adele`s Rolling in the deep)
3. "You Make Me Feel" by Cobra Starship ft. Sabi
The Premise: Sam (Nicholas D'Agosto) is traveling on an overnight team-building excursion with his co-workers. After recently breaking up with his girlfriend (whom is also on the trip), Sam expects the next two days to be a living hell until he experiences a vision while waiting on a bus. His premonition shows the bridge they’re on collapsing and all of his co-workers, including himself, dying in the accident except for his ex. He quickly warns them off his vision and luckily, most of the co-workers escape the bridge before it collapses but Death doesn’t like to be cheated. One-by-one, the survivors of the bridge collapse start to mysteriously die one-by-one according to when they should have died during the accident. Will the survivors be able to cheat Death twice? Can they find a way to get off Death’s list? Can the latest sequel bring life back to this horror franchise?
The Results: 3.75/5!
Let’s face it, it’s a horror movie. I’m not expecting Oscar-worthy material but a good popcorn film that keeps me on the edge of my seat. I was somewhat let down from the previous sequel (The Final Destination) as it didn’t follow the rules that the series created but surprisingly, I liked this sequel. A highlight is that nothing was overdone. Every 3-D sequence, character and death scene was properly chosen for the film. The acting wasn’t trite or laughable; which is a plus in a horror movie. The characters were realistic and you did end up rooting for most of the survivors to live; only a couple of people could be annoying at times. My favourite thing was the twist at the end; I love a shocking twist and it left you thinking when you put the entire series in retrospect.
Let’s face it, it’s a horror movie. I’m not expecting Oscar-worthy material but a good popcorn film that keeps me on the edge of my seat. I was somewhat let down from the previous sequel (The Final Destination) as it didn’t follow the rules that the series created but surprisingly, I liked this sequel. A highlight is that nothing was overdone. Every 3-D sequence, character and death scene was properly chosen for the film. The acting wasn’t trite or laughable; which is a plus in a horror movie. The characters were realistic and you did end up rooting for most of the survivors to live; only a couple of people could be annoying at times. My favourite thing was the twist at the end; I love a shocking twist and it left you thinking when you put the entire series in retrospect.
My problem with this series in general is the death scenes. The scenes from the later films are becoming more anti-climatic and a ploy to save time. Having 3-D objects fly out and kill someone, an item falling from a shelf or the sky onto a survivor is a lackluster end to the scene. Before, they were more shocking but now, audiences are more desensitized to the modern ability of the horror movie and filmmakers are throwing humour into the mix. In actuality, filmmakers should take the scenes more seriously to add suspense instead of shock value or “surprise” scenes to possibly incite an audience.