Indie Roundup

The summer movie season is typically dominated by the biggest and most expensive movies. In recent years, that has meant giant robots, men in tights, and all manner of explosions. Studios know that audiences can get tired of these films and will also release smaller movies to balance out the movie-going experience. Unfortunately, a lot of these films don't get the same kind of marketing push because it's really not worth it from a business stand point to spend huge amounts of money marketing a small 5 million dollar (or less) indie film. I thought I'd take some time and spotlight a few films I've seen recently that are still out in theaters and are more than worth your time and money.

The Wolverine Review

Director: James Mangold

Writers: Mark Bomback, Scott Frank

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima, Hiroyuki Sanada

Hugh Jackman has brought Wolverine to life on the big screen 5 times. It's always difficult to keep any character fresh and interesting for that long and comic book films don't have the best track record. In fact Jackman's last X-film, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, was easily the worst of the bunch. James Mangold's The Wolverine aims to be a smaller , more introspective Wolverine tale. Fans of the Wolverine comics know that there's more to Logan than razor sharp claws and ridiculous hair. I think James Mangold does his best to deliver.

Monsters University Review

Director: Dan Scanlon

Writers: Robert L. Baird, Daniel Gerson, and Dan Scalon

Starring: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Charlie Day

Much has been made of Pixar's supposed decline in quality. One of the reason cited as evidence of the decline is their choice to develop sequels instead of original stories. Their most recent effort revisits the world they introduced in "Monsters, Inc." all the way back in 2001. 12 years later "Monsters University" brings us back to the world where monsters use the screams of to power their world. This time we go back to Mike and Sulley's time as students at Monsters U. They don't exactly get along at first. After endangering their spot in Monsters University's prestigious School of Scaring, they must put everything on the line and participate in the Annual Scare Games to prove they are the best of the best.

Reel Talk: Fast & Furious 6

The lovely gentlemen at Out Now with Aaron and Abe had me on their latest episode to talk Fast & Furious 6 among other things. Also joining in on the fun was the always cool Jimmy O from JoBlo. We get into some trailer talk, play some games, talk a little bit of box office, and review Fast & Furious 6. If you have some time to kill give it a listen and check for links to more episodes after the jump.

All Roads Lead to This: Fast & Furious 6 Review

Director: Justin Lin

Writer: Chris Morgan

Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Sung Kang

"Do you believe in ghosts?" This question could just as easily apply to the Fast and Furious franchise. 2001's "The Fast and the Furious" didn't exactly take home any Oscars. It wasn't nominated for any nor was it even a part of awards season conversation. The film, however, did have a good share of cultural impact especially with the way the street racing culture was blowing up at the time. I was just young enough at the time that I had a blast with the film. It was exciting and had these tough guys driving these extravagant cars really fast. After that the series languished and by 2009's "Fast and Furious", it seemed that the series had nothing left in the tank and was effectively dead. The series' third entry, "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift", was the lone bright spot and I mainly enjoyed the original for the sheer nostalgia factor. Then "Fast Five" came along and breathed life back into this franchise. It proved that director Justin Lin and writer Chris Morgan knew exactly where to take this franchise to make it not only relevant again but also quite enjoyable. "Fast & Furious 6" promises bigger action and that "All roads lead to this." Does it live up to the hype?

The Master of Suspense in 3D

Today is National Hitchcock Day! To be honest I just found out about this "holiday" today but I'm a big Hitchcock fan so I thought I'd throw up a quick post especially since I've been really busy and haven't posted anything for a while. I don't think I can say anything about Hitchcock that hasn't already been said so I just though I'd share a recent experience with one of his films I quite enjoyed.

Home Video Picks of the Week

Some times making the trip out to the movies is a little too time consuming and it's much more enjoyable to stay in and enjoy a good movie on the couch. Heading into the weekend I've got two solid picks for you guys to check out that should give you enough variety to choose from.

Classics Corner #1: Chinatown

AFI 100 Years 100 Movies #21

I decided to start my AFI 100 years 100 Movies project with number 21: Chinatown. Chinatown is a 1974 film starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway and directed by Roman Polanski. The description from IMDB is as follows:

A private detective investigating an adultery case stumbles on to a scheme of murder that has something to do with water.

What did I think of my first AFI top movie?

100 Years...100 Movies...100 blogs?

One of my resolutions for 2013 was actually put some new content on this blog.  In an effort to do that I'm going to attempt watch the American Film Institute's list of the best movies of all time as compiled in their 100 Years...100 Movies list. This list was created by the AFI with the input of 1500 film artists and critics. A friend of mine and I have always wanted to attempt to watch all of the movies on this list and I thought it would be a great topic for me to blog about. The majority of these films are considered classics and I've only seen a small percentage. As a self described cinephile/movie geek/film junkie this list is pretty much required viewing. I'll be following the 10th anniversary version of the list simply because it is the most recent. I haven't decided yet how to tackle this list. I'm not sure if I should start at 100 and work my way up to 1 or vice versa. More than likely I'll watch them out of order just because of the availability of each film varies wildly. Look forward to this and a few other things on this blog! Also see the complete list here.

Reel Talk: Zero Dark Thirty

Hey guys! (All two of you...) The guys over at Out Now with Aaron and Abe were gracious enough to have me come on their show and chit chat about a few topics. We dive into Zero Dark Thirty for the main review and also talk bit about Sundance, the Oscar nominations, and play some movie themed games. There were two other awesome guests on and the show was a lot of fun.

Check it out on their official site HERE on the HHWLOD Podcast Network or use the player below to listen on this page. Follow the show!

Don't forget to share/like/tweet/print or whatever you do with things you enjoy.

Catch everybody's work on their pages:

• Aaron Neuwirth of The Code Is Zeek and Why So Blu?
• Abraham Moua of The Walrus Moose
• Adam Gentry of Things I Know About Movies
• Mark Johnson of The Awards Circuit