Drag Me To Hell - Review

Sam Raimi should do these types of films for the rest of his life. I actually hadn't written up a review for this because i went and saw it three times in theaters. That should be enough of a review for you.

Drag Me To Hell is the story of pretty young loan officer Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) who is gunning for the assistant bank managers job at the bank she works at. Her only real competition is the new guy, Stu, whose nose is so far up his bosses ass with Lakers tickets and compliments that it makes her a bit sick. After learning of this her boss tells her about making tough decisions. Well right then and there a tough decision shows up, a creepy old gypsy woman whose house is about to be repossessed. Christine dutifully informs the woman that a loan extension is out of the question due to the previous loan extensions she has received. Old Ms. Ganush (Lorna Raver) begs and pleads for assistance but is ultimately thrown out by security. This is where the 27 different kinds of crazy show up. Ms. Ganush in old school fashion meets Christine out in the parking lot, old school style, and proceeds with the oddest and funniest chick fight ever put on screen. Ganush ens up putting a curse on Christine and she ultimately finds out she has three days to break the curse before being... you guessed it, dragged to hell. Along the way we meet her super sweet and Apple loving boyfriend, a seer who is trying to help her out of this situation, and a demon called the Lamia.

This flick is so fun that had it starred Bruce Campbell, you coulda called it Evil Dead 4. Lohman is such a good sport with the physicality of the role and with the disgustingness that Raimi subjects her to, she should get the offical Bruce seal of approval. Mr. Raimi quite likes to abuse his actors if you ever pay attention to any making of docos for his films. The movie may ne rated PG13 but it is still fairly brutal. The blood is essentially replaced with disgustingness of saliva, drool, maggots, embalming fluid and the like. The film played well with both a small audience and a large audience.

My biggest issue is not with the film, but with the fake ass Sam Raimi fans who know nothing of his work outside of the Spiderman films. It was odd to be sitting in the packed theater next to a girl who couldn't have been older than 16, laugh, scream, and jump all the way through the film only to declare it stupid at the end because it was to "funny". What sense does that make? Oh yeah, the chick was wearing a brand new Army of Darkness t-shirt. She had obviously never seen that film and then say that about the one she just watched.

I can recommend this film to Raimi fans far and wide, and to non Raimi fans, you should become one before seeing this. The best way to describe it is it fits right between Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn and Army of Darkness as far as quality goes. If you understand the reference then go see the film, if not go rent those films and then, if you enjoy them, go see this one.

The Hangover - Review

Hmmm... I know I've been sitting on this one for a while. Ive done so because prior to and after seeing it i found so many people declaring it to be the greatest flick of the summer, year, best comedy in years, blah blah blah. Well i decided to take a wait and see approach with it. Initial thoughts were i thought the flick was hands down hilarious and if id have written this review immediately after leaving the theater this would have been a glowing take everyone you know to see it twice type of review. However i waited, and i will still say the film is extremely funny, however nothing sticks with you. I know i will more than likely buy it and watch it a lot of times because it IS a good funny movie. But i don't think its the best thing since ( insert last funny movie you saw here).

The highlight of the film for me was to see Zack Galifinakis going frigging insane on screen. His Alan character was so funny and so out there that he will probably become a go to actor for anyone else needing that. I also know he is capable of more serious fare, but he was note perfect in this film. Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms were also phenomenal in the film and I look forward to seeing them in more stuff.

Problems, mostly with the marketing. Obviously the people who did the marketing know what they are doing as the 31 million dollar film has crossed the 100 million mark and not really slowing up to much. The problem is that SO MANY of the scenes that could have been classic are so ruined by the films commercials and trailers. I would have loved to see the film with out seeing but the most surface driven marketing because all those things we saw and were so funny in the advertising, were expected in the film. If so many of the jokes hadn't been given away by the trailers this seriously could have been an amazing time at the cinema for all of us. So there is really my only problem with the film.

As a wannabe screenwriter i loved how the film really follows no structure and has no big character arcs, and no one really has a big life changing revelation save for the one guy who needed it. It is totally a guys movie that females will find funny as well because the film plays on, I've heard it called, white guy anxiety laughs. We all like laughing at the white guys right? yeah that was off course. The film just goes for the funny jugular every chance it gets with no real concern of how it'll fit overall. Each twist and turn propels the story forward regardless of how silly it may have been or how out of place it may be.

In the end, i definitely recommend going to see the film, its probably not for everyone so your mother probably wont care for it unless shes awesome.

Until next time guys.