The Deaths of Ian Stone (2007)

The Deaths of Ian Stone

One of the After Dark Horrorfest films from 2007.

The Good:
Neat concept for a movie.
Multiple twists, some more predictable than others.
I enjoyed the movement of the film, kuddos to the director (it only seemd slow once or twice which is pretty freaking good for a low budget film in my opinion).
Simple special effects that were just effective enough for the plot.

The Bad:
Some of the ideas were taken from other films, but what movies' plots aren't.
Some of the acting was so-so.
A little bit of cheese in a few areas.

Overall: A little bit Jacob's Ladder, a little bit The Matrix, a little bit Dark City, a little bit ______ (that film would give away too much of the plot). All those little bits add up to a decent movie, check it out, it was really different than I expected.

P2 (2007)

P2

The Good:
Yeah...

The Bad:
The plot.
The characters.
The concept.
The setting.
The stupidity.
...
The acting was even on the not-so-good side.

Overall: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, who the hell green-lighted this for a big budget feature?


***Just as an aside here, Rachel Nichols is slated to be Scarlet in the upcoming G.I.Joe film.***

Justice League: The New Frontier (2008)

Justice League: The New Frontier

The Good:
Great cast of voice-over actors.
Great cast of characters.
Very comic bookish style story (similar to the comic version).
Awesome animation.

The Bad:
Too short for a solid plotline in a feature film with multiple characters.
The comic version was a lot more robust in its feel and theme.
I would have liked a few more bad guy appearances, that's just the comic geek in me.
Too many characters, not enough character development in most areas.

Overall: I was real excited about this one, with Timm doing it and it being based on a fantastic comic. And it wasn't terrible, it just lacked that certain something that would have made it a Superman: Doomsday.

War (2007)

War

The Good:
Decent fight scenes.
I generally enjoy Jet Li and Jason Statham was great in The Transporter.
The plot seemed familiar... oh yeah, the classic A Fist Full of Dollars plot, it is always fun to see it executed in a different setting.
I liked the Asian club scene, cool girl in the dark Go-Go dancers!

The Bad:
Ugh... action movies with multiple "twists" are kind of annoying... unless the twists are good.
Wow, I guess the Yakuza and the Triads are idiots!
Not nearly enough hand-to-hand combat for Jet Li to have a lead role in it.
Parts of it were directed so fast and choppy it was difficult to watch.
The dialog was so-so at best.

Overall: There are plenty of better action movies out there to see. Unless you really like morons engaging in gang warfare, there is little reason to see this film. It lacks the H2H of a good Jet Li movie and the interesting western combat stylings of a good Jason Statham film.

The Man from Earth (2007)

The Man from Earth

The entire film takes place at John Oldman's cabin as he is leaving. Friends from the university faculty, many of them scientists, gather round to see him off. After a fashion, John begins to weave a tale that is about a 14,000 year old caveman that is still alive today and that caveman John claims is himself. Most of the film is storytelling, scientific questioning, philosophical wondering and religious debating. It kept me quite sucked in throughout. I would have gone with a different ending, but I am not complaining about it. The Man from Earth was exactly what I was in the mood for, a little mental stretching and a few smiles. This was really a good flick. Watch and enjoy, but be forewarned it is much more a storytelling session than a traditional film.